Maura Tombelli (born 1952 in
Montelupo Fiorentino
Montelupo Fiorentino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence.
Geography
The area is predominantly hilly and is crossed by the river Pesa that, part ...
) is an Italian 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 ...
who began her training in
astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
as an observer of
variable stars
A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...
. She is a prolific discoverer of almost 200
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,
including the main-belt asteroid
7794 Sanvito, and a member of the
American Association of Variable Star Observers
The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization. Founded in 1911, the organization focuses on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by ama ...
.
Career
She is known as the only Italian female
astrometrist.
Together with Italian astronomers
Ulisse Munari and
Giuseppe Forti
Giuseppe Forti (December 21, 1939 – July 2, 2007) was an Italian astronomer and a discoverer of asteroids.
Forti was a trained solar physicist, and worked at Harvard's ''Radio Meteor Project'' and later at the Arcetri Observatory, in Florence ...
, she initiated a five-year survey of minor planets at
Asiago Astrophysical Observatory in 1994. She also shared a lot of observing with the discoverers, especially the follow-up of
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 ...
s (NEOs), and she contributed to the discovery of
15817 Lucianotesi, the first NEO found from Italy. She is currently involved in a project to build a new
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed.
Th ...
(
Osservatorio di Montelupo) near the town of
Montelupo, where she lives.
Awards and honors
The main-belt asteroid
9904 Mauratombelli, discovered by Italian astronomers
Andrea Boattini
Andrea Boattini (born 16 September 1969) is an Italian astronomer and a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets.
Career
After developing a growing interest in minor planets, he graduated in 1996 from the University of Bologna with a t ...
and
Luciano Tesi
Luciano Tesi (; born 10 December 1931) is an Italian veterinarian, amateur astronomer, discoverer of many minor planets, and director of the San Marcello Pistoiese Observatory.
In 1980, he founded the "Amateur Group of Pistoiese Mountain" (). L ...
in 1997, is named in her honour.
List of discovered minor planets
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100910014553/http://www.meteoritedoro.it/albo_doro_tombelli.htm
* http://www.nove.firenze.it/vediarticolo.asp?id=97.05.21.00.14
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombelli, Maura
1952 births
Living people
People from Montelupo Fiorentino
21st-century Italian astronomers
20th-century Italian women scientists
Italian women astronomers
Discoverers of asteroids
20th-century Italian astronomers