Richard A. Kowalski (born 1963) is an American

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 has discovered numerous

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 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 ...

s, among them, many

near-Earth objects 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 aro ...

. Kowalski has had a lifelong interest in astronomy with an emphasis on

planetary science Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of ...

. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

in Florida during the 1990s he developed an interest in

astrometric Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. History ...

and photometric observations of asteroids. He started the "Minor Planet Mailing List" in mid-1997. Kowalski discovered 14627 Emilkowalski in 1998. In 1999 he was invited to use the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

's 0.6-m Ritchey-Chrétien telescope to make observations in support of the

Deep Space 1 ''Deep Space 1'' (DS1) was a NASA technology demonstration spacecraft which flew by an asteroid and a comet. It was part of the New Millennium Program, dedicated to testing advanced technologies. Launched on 24 October 1998, the ''Deep Space ...

mission. Also in 1999 he was the Scientific Coordinator for the first Minor Planet Amateur-Professional Workshop at

Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...

in Flagstaff, Arizona. He has been a member of 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 searc ...

(CSS) in Tucson, Arizona since September, 2005 and has discovered hundreds of near-Earth and

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 along with thirteen comets. Of these,

periodic comet Periodic comets (also known as short-period comets) are comets with orbital periods of less than 200 years or that have been observed during more than a single perihelion passage (e.g. 153P/Ikeya–Zhang). "Periodic comet" is also sometimes used ...

226P/Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski was the recovery of

Edward Pigott Edward Pigott (1753–1825) was an English astronomer notable for being one of the founders of the study of variable stars. Biography Son of the astronomer Nathaniel Pigott, Pigott's work focused on variable stars. Educated in France wi ...

's lost comet of 1783. Kowalski discovered the comet C/2013 US10 on Halloween morning, 2013. On October 6, 2008, while observing with the CSS telescope at

Mount Lemmon Observatory Mount Lemmon Observatory (MLO), also known as the Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory, is an astronomy, astronomical observatory located on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately northeast of Tucson, Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (U ...

, he discovered . Approximately 20 hours after its discovery this asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere over Sudan, becoming the first asteroid discovered before impact with the earth. Kowalski was honored with a small piece of . On January 1, 2014, Kowalski found another impacting asteroid, this was designated

2014 AA 2014 AA was a small Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 2–4 meters in diameter that struck Earth on 2 January 2014. It was discovered on 1 January 2014 by Richard Kowalski at the Mount Lemmon Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19 using a refle ...

. The impact zone for this asteroid was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The main-belt asteroid 7392 Kowalski is named in his honor. Kowalski is a FAA certified commercial pilot holding Instrument and

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

ratings. He also runs a free-lance photography studio in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

References

External links

Catalina Sky Survey
home page *

made the night 2008 TC3 was discovered
Minor Planet Mailing List

Full Moon Photography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalski, Richard A. 1963 births 20th-century American astronomers 21st-century American astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets * Living people American people of Polish descent American commercial aviators American planetary scientists