E. W. Elst
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Eric Walter Elst (30 November 1936 – 2 January 2022) was a Belgian
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
at the
Royal Observatory of Belgium The Royal Observatory of Belgium (; ; ) has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels since 1890. It is part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The Royal Observatory was first established in S ...
in Uccle and a prolific discoverer of
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 ...
s. The
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...
ranks him among the top 10
discoverers of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 num ...
with thousands of discoveries made at
ESO The European Southern Observatory is an astronomical research organisation. ESO may also refer to: *Employee stock option (also: executive stock option) *'' Ether Saga Odyssey'', a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game *''The Elde ...
's
La Silla Observatory La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observato ...
in northern Chile and at the
Rozhen Observatory Rozhen Observatory (, ''НАО-Рожен''; , ''NAO-Rozhen''), also known as the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory, located in the Smolyan Province, 90 kilometers south of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. ...
in Bulgaria during 1986–2009. The minor planet 3936 Elst, a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the
asteroid 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 ...
, roughly 6 kilometers in diameter, was named in his honour.


Discoveries

Elst is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 3866 numbered minor planets made between 1986 and 2009. Notable discoveries include
4486 Mithra 4486 Mithra ('' prov. designation:'' ), is an eccentric asteroid and suspected contact-binary, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It belongs to the Apollo group of asteroi ...
, a near-Earth and
Apollo asteroid The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Ear ...
, 7968 Elst-Pizarro, which is classified as both asteroid and
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
, and more than 25
Jupiter trojan The Jupiter trojans, commonly called trojan asteroids or simply trojans, are a large group of asteroids that share the planet Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. Relative to Jupiter, each Trojan (celestial body), trojan Libration point orbit, librat ...
s. His discoveries also include: *
Binary asteroid A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common barycenter. The binary nature of 243 Ida was discovered when the Galileo spacecraft flew by the asteroid in 1993. Since then numerous binary asteroids and several triple a ...
s such as 4492 Debussy and
15268 Wendelinefroger 15268 Wendelinefroger, provisional designation ', is a stony, spheroidal, and binary Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 18 November 1990, by Belgian astro ...
*
Amor asteroid The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor . The orbital perihelion of these objects is close to, but greater than, the orbital aphelion of Earth (i.e., the objects do not cross Earth's orbit ...
s such as 21088 Chelyabinsk * Many
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 ...
asteroids such as
9936 Al-Biruni 9936 Al-Biruni, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 August 1986, by Belgian and Bulgarian astronomers Eric Elst and Vio ...
(outer MBA), 12838 Adamsmith (Koronian),
13058 Alfredstevens 13058 Alfredstevens, provisional designation , is a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in No ...
(Vestian), 13070 Seanconnery (inner MBA), and 13963 Euphrates which orbits in a 2:1 resonance with Jupiter In December 2017, the asteroid 13975 Beatrixpotter, discovered by Elst in 1992, was renamed in memory of the writer, artist, and naturalist. Minor planet articles also exist for 12696 Camus, 8116 Jeanperrin,
22740 Rayleigh 22740 Rayleigh (Minor planet provisional designation, provisional designation ) is a Zhongguo asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 20 September 1998, by Belgian astronomer Eric ...
, 6267 Rozhen and 9951 Tyrannosaurus, among others.


Personal life and death

Elst was born in Kapellen on 30 November 1936. He died in
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
on 2 January 2022, at the age of 85.VVS
Death notice Eric W. Elst (1936–2022)
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See also

*
List of minor planet discoverers This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elst, Eric Walter 1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Belgian astronomers 21st-century Belgian astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets * People from Kapellen, Belgium