Eric James Christensen (born in 1977) is an American astronomer and a discoverer of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

s. Since 2023, he works as an Observing Specialist Manager at the

Vera C. Rubin Observatory The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, previously referred to as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), is an astronomical observatory currently under construction in Chile. Its main task will be carrying out a synoptic astronomical survey, the L ...

. Before this, he was a staff scientist with the

Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey (CSS; obs. code: 703) is an astronomical survey to discover comets and asteroids. It is conducted at the Steward Observatory's Catalina Station, located near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. CSS focuses on the s ...

(CSS), where he was responsible for the survey's

near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU) ...

operation.

Career

Christensen holds a BFA from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

, with a concentration in ceramic sculpture. In 2003, Christensen joined the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) near

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black

ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

, as an observer. He was involved in software development during a major equipment upgrade at the observatory. Around 2007, Christensen left CSS to work at the

Gemini South The Gemini Observatory is an astronomical observatory consisting of two 8.1-metre (26.6 ft) telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South, which are located at two separate sites in Hawaii and Chile, respectively. The twin Gemini telescopes prov ...

telescope in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

as part of the science operations team, including hunting for

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object en ...

s in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...

. In 2012, Christensen returned to CSS as a survey operations manager. For ten years, he was the director of the survey's near-Earth object (NEO) operations, including observing, software development, cadence optimization, telescope and instrument maintenance and collimation, survey modeling and optimization, and project management. In August 2023, Christensen returned to Chile with his family to join the Vera C. Rubin Observatory as an observing specialist manager. The telescope is expected to see first light in January 2025, and start survey operations in August 2025.

Discoveries

; Numbered comets *

164P/Christensen 164P/Christensen is a periodic comet in the Solar System. References External links Orbital simulationfrom JPL (Java) Horizons Ephemeris– Seiichi Yoshida @ aerith.net Elements and Ephemeris for 164P/Christensen– Minor Planet Center Th ...

170P/Christensen 170P/Christensen is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It came to perihelion in September 2014 at about apparent magnitude 18. References External links Orbital simulationfrom JPL (Java) Horizons EphemerisElements and Ephemeris for 170 ...

* 210P/Christensen * 266P/Christensen * 286P/Christensen * 287P/Christensen * 298P/Christensen * 316P/LONEOS-Christensen * 383P/Christensen ; Unnumbered comets * C/2005 B1 (Christensen) * C/2005 O2 (Christensen) * P/2005 T2 (Christensen) * C/2005 W2 (Christensen) * C/2006 F2 (Christensen) * P/2006 S4 (Christensen) * C/2006 W3 (Christensen) * P/2006 WY182 (Christensen) * C/2006 YC (Catalina–Christensen) * P/2007 B1 (Christensen) * C/2013 K1 (Christensen) * C/2014 H1 (Christensen) * C/2014 M2 (Christensen) * C/2014 W7 (Christensen) * P/2016 A2 (Christensen) * P/2022 E1 (Christensen)

Awards and honors

Asteroid 13858 Ericchristensen, discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in 1999, was named in his honor. The official was published by 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. Function ...

on 22 July 2013 ().

References

External links

Eric Christensen
, University of Arizona
Four Comets in Two Days – Comet Christensen (210P/Christensen P/2003 K2)

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space (now Airbus Defence and Space) that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS l ...

, 26 January 2018
Comets discovered in 2007
BAA Comet Section {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Eric J. 1977 births American astronomers Discoverers of comets * Living people