Timothy B. Hunter, better known as Tim Hunter, is an American radiologist and amateur astronomer, who was the president of the

International Dark-Sky Association The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is " ...

Education and profession

Hunter received his M.D. degree from Northwestern University in 1968. He teaches as a professor of radiology and orthopaedic surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He also earned a B.S. degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

from the University of Arizona in 1980 and M.S. in astronomy from

Swinburne University of Technology Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access ...

in 2006.

Astronomy

Since 1986, Hunter has studied the problem of increasing light pollution. In 1987, together with David Crawford, he founded the

, which has grown to more than 10,000 members in 75 countries (as of 2007). His effort in this field brought him the Presidential Award of the Astronomical League in 2004 and the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 2005. He is also a member of the Planetary Science Institute Board of Trustees and a past chairman of the Western Region of the Astronomical League.

Asteroid

6398 Timhunter 6398 Timhunter, provisional designation , is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 February 1991, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene ...

, discovered by Carolyn Shoemaker at

Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...

in 1991, 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 1 June 1996 ().

References

2005 ASP Annual Award Winners: Tim Hunter

The Grasslands observatory

6398 Timhunter at JPL Small-Body Database Browser
Living people Amateur astronomers 20th-century American astronomers 21st-century American astronomers University of Arizona faculty University of Arizona alumni Feinberg School of Medicine alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-astronomer-stub