Asteroids Related to UofT
Citations above reprinted with permission of the Minor Planet Center. Information is from the MPC shown and some information may be out of date. For each one, the top line shows the asteroid name, asteroid number and designation, then the number of Minor Planet Circular in which the announcement appeared. Asteroids with Canadian Connections from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
For orbital elements etc. of these asteroids, go to Ephemerides service.
For more information on asteroids in general go to the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Chant 3315 1984 CZ MPC 12210
Discovered 1984 February 8 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Named in memory of Clarence Augustus Chant (b. 1865, d. 1956), generally referred to as the “father of Canadian astronomy”. A renowned teacher, Chant organized the Astronomy Department of the University of Toronto and built up the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada . He participated in five solar eclipse expeditions, the most important being the one he led to Australia in 1922 to test Einstein’s prediction of the deflection of starlight by a massive body. Chant is also honoured by a lunar crater.
Fernie 8875 1992 UP10 MPC 41936 (2001)
Discovered 1992 October 22 by E. Bowell at Palomar
Named in honour of J. Donald Fernie (b. 1933-), professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Toronto and former director of the David Dunlap Observatory, is known for his work on variable stars, galactic structure, photoelectric photometry, and the history of astronomy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Heard 3023 1981 JS MPC 9770
Discovered 1981 May 5 by E. Bowell at Anderson, Mesa
Named in memory of John Frederick Heard (1907-1976), professor of astronomy at the University of Toronto and fourth director of the David Dunlap Observatory. An outstanding and meticulous spectroscopist, he specialized in spectroscopic binaries and stellar radial-velocity standards. In addition he was a dedicated teacher who helped train many Canadian astronomers.
Obituary published in JRASC v.71 p.1-8 1977.
Innanen 3497 1941 HJ MPC 18451
Named in honor of the Finnish-Canadian astronomer Kimmo Innanen, well-known specialist in celestial mechanics and galactic dynamics. With Seppo Mikkola he predicted the existence of ‘Mars Trojans’, the first of which was recently discovered.
( ‘Kim’ was a graduate student at University of Toronto and has subsequently returned to UofT as a Post-Doc and visiting professor. He is currently at York University.)
Johnpercy 32208 2000 OR7 MPC 56961
Discovered 2000 July 28 by M. Collins and M. Gahran at Anza.
British-born John R. Percy (b. 1941), a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Toronto, has written over 400 scientific papers, articles and books on variable stars and astronomy education. His organizational affiliations span the globe, and his many awards reflect his dedicated support to astronomy education.
Mairepercy 32207 2000 OQ7 MPC 56961
Discovered 2000 July 28 by M. Collins and M. Gahran at Anza.
Maire Percy (b. 1939) conducts research at the University of Toronto in risk factors for human disease. She identifies factors that could lead to the cure or prevention of human disorders, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer-like dementia in Down Syndrome. She is the wife of astronomer John R. Percy.
Martinduncan 6115 1984 SR2 MPC 27461
Discovered 1984 September 25 by B. A. Skiff at Anderson Mesa
Named in honour of Martin J. Duncan (1950- ) of Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. Duncan has made several important contributions to the understanding of the origin and dynamical evolution of small bodies in the solar system, particularly comets, and the likelihood that they originated in the Kuiper Belt. He has been involved in the development of two important numerical algorithms that have led to orbital integrations of unprecedented duration.
Northcott 3670 1983 BN MPC 12974
Discovered 1983 January 22 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa
Named for the Canadian astronomer Ruth Josephine Northcott (1913-1969), an associate professor at the University of Toronto and a staff member of the David Dunlap Observatory from its inception in 1935. A specialist in stellar radial velocities, Northcott served on IAU Commissions 26 (double stars), 30 (radial velocities) and 41 (history of astronomy). In 1956 she succeeded C. A. Chant as editor of the Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, a position she held until her untimely death.
Obituaries published in JRASC v.63, p. 225-226 (1969) and Sky and Telescope v.38, p.211 (1969).
Sawyer Hogg 2917 1980 RR MPC 8801
Discovered 1980 September 02 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa
Named in honour of Helen Sawyer Hogg (1905-1993), professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Toronto , known for her research on globular clusters and for her inspiring course in introductory astronomy, which she taught for more than 35 years. She has served as president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the Canadian Astronomical Society, and the American Association of Variable Star Observers. For nearly 30 years she wrote a weekly astronomical column for the Toronto Star, and she conducted a series of television programs for the Ontario Educational Television Authority. She is a Companion of the Order of Canada, a recent recipient of the Klumpke-Roberts award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the first Canadian and second woman to receive the Rittenhouse silver medal.
Obituaries in JRASC Vol. 87, No. 6, p. 351-356 (1993), PASP v.105, p.1369-1372 (1993), BAAS v.25, no.4 p.1497 (1983) and JAAVSO v.22, no.1, p.83-86 (1993)
Shelton 5953 1987 HS MPC 31296 (1998)
Discovered 1987 April 25 by C. S. Shoemaker and E. M. Shoemaker at Palomar
Named in honour of Ian Shelton, Canadian astronomer, best known for his discovery of the supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud on 1987 Feb. 24. During his four years as resident observer at the University of Toronto Southern Observatory, he participated in programs with astronomers worldwide, and more recently he has generously contributed to the astronomical education of school children, parents and teachers.
Skvorecky 26314 1998 UJ1 MPC 43383 (September 2 2001)
Discovered 1998 October 16 by J Ticha and M. Tichy at Klet
Josef Skvorecky (1924- ) is one of the preeminent Czech writers of the post-World War II generation known for mordant humour and sardonic irony. Together with his wife Zdena Salivarova, he operated The Sixty-Eight Publishers in Toronto, the main Czech exile publishing house.
(Josef Skvorecky is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Toronto at Mississauga)
Toronto 2104 1963 PD MPC 4645
Discovered 1963 August 15 by K. Kamper at Tautenberg.
This minor planet, the first to be found at a Canadian Observatory, is named in honour of University of Toronto, during whose sesquicentennial celebration it was discovered, to acknowledge the central role played by the university in the development of astronomy in Canada. This planet was detected at the David Dunlap Observatory on plates taken by Sidney van den Bergh at the Tautenberg Observatory, East Germany.
Tremaine 3806 1981 EW32 MPC 27458
Discovered 1981 March 01 by S. J. Bus at Siding Spring
Named in honour of Scott D. Tremaine (1950- ). Tremaine has made seminal contributions to solar-system and galactic dynamics. He is co-author with James Binney of the leading monograph on galactic dynamics. Since 1985 Tremaine has been director of the Canadian Institute for Theoretic Astrophysics in Toronto, and the success of that organization owes much to his vision and leadership.
van den Bergh 4230 1973 ST1 MPC 18307
Discovered 1973 September 19 by C. J. van Houten and I. van Houten-Groeneveld at Palomar
Named in honour of Sidney van den Bergh (1929- ), Dutch-born Canadian astronomer, former director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, B.C. He was president of IAU commission 50 from 1985 to 1988 and a vice president of the IAU during 1976-1982.