David B. Healy (22 December 1936 – 6 June 2011) was an American astrophotographer and

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

discoverer who is known for his contributions to Burnham's Celestial Handbook.JPL Small-Body Database Browser 66479 Healy (1999 RQ33)
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History

David B. Healy was born 1936 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He was an automotive industry analyst for

Drexel Burnham Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, i ...

in New York and later a stock broker before retiring to Arizona. He dedicated his life to Astronomy and the discovery of planets. While in New York, he was a longtime member of the Astronomical Society of Long Island. Once in Sierra Vista, Arizona, he became a valued member of the Huachuca Astronomy Club. He was well known for his pioneering work in astrophotography (in particular with cooled and hypered emulsion astrophotography before silver became silicon) with multiple contributions to leading astronomy publications. Healy established the Junk Bond Observatory in Arizona for visual work and recoveries of minor planets. On September 4, 1999 a

main-belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

was discovered by Myke Collins and M. White at Anza. It was called 66479 Healy after the founder of the JBO. Healy was also an original contributor to Burnham's Celestial Handbook. The JBO established by Healy operates a 32-inch Ritchey Chretien reflector chiefly for minor planet

astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, th ...

and is credited with over 500 discoveries. After his chief co-discoverer Jeffrey Medkeff died in 2008, Dave decided to participate in the search for exo-planets. His telescope is still being used in the search for these planetary systems. He was a Contributing Editor of ''

Astronomy Magazine ''Astronomy'' is a monthly American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and astrophysics for general readers. History ''A ...

''. Bloomberg Press reviewed Healy's transition from investment analyst to amateur astronomer in the following article. https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRvPb7l8jKq4#

List of discovered minor planets

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Healy, David B 1936 births 2011 deaths American astronomers Discoverers of minor planets *