Frank B. Zoltowski (born 1957) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

amateur

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 ...

and prolific discoverer of

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

s who lives in Woomera, South Australia. In 1998, he was awarded a "

Gene Shoemaker Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televi ...

NEO Grant" for improved

near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit a ...

searches. Zoltowski conducts these searches from his home with a

charge-coupled device A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

camera. He is 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. He authored CCDTRACK, a computer program that auto-guides electronically controlled telescopes by tracking a user-selected celestial object. He is mentioned in NASA's asteroid tracking database as an observer for asteroid . Astronomers at 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 ...

used Zoltowski's work to work out an estimated approach distance for of 56,500 kilometers, and a closest approach date of Aug 7, 2027. It was thought to potentially crash into Earth. The main-belt asteroid 18292 Zoltowski, discovered at the George R. Agassiz Station of the Harvard College Observatory in 1977, was named in his honor. The naming citation was published on 9 May 2001 ().

List of discovered minor planets

Frank Zoltowski is credited by the

for the discovery of 228 numbered

s between 1997 and 2003.

References

External links

CCDTrack Software website, Author F. B. Zoltowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoltowski, Frank B. 1957 births 20th-century Australian astronomers 21st-century Australian astronomers Discoverers of asteroids * Living people

List of discovered minor planets

See also

References

External links