 |
|
| Trans-Neptunian objects discovered: 14 | |
|---|---|
| (50000) Quaoar [1] | June 4, 2002 |
| (84719) 2002 VR128 [1] | November 3, 2002 |
| (90377) Sedna [1] [2] | November 14, 2003 |
| (90482) Orcus [1] [2] | February 17, 2004 |
| (119951) 2002 KX14 [1] | May 17, 2002 |
| (120178) 2003 OP32 [1] [2] | July 26, 2003 |
| (120347) 2004 SB60 [3] [4] | September 22, 2004 |
| (120348) 2004 TY364 [1] [2] | October 3, 2004 |
| (126154) 2001 YH140 [1] | December 18, 2001 |
| (126155) 2001 YJ140 [1] [5] | December 20, 2001 |
| (136108) 2003 EL61 [1] [2] | December 28, 2004 |
| (136472) 2005 FY9 [1] [2] | March 31, 2005 |
| Eris [1] [2] | January 8, 2005 |
| Dysnomia | September 10, 2005 |
|
|
Michael (Mike) E. Brown (born June 5, 1965) has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) since 2003. Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena He was previously an associate professor at Caltech from 2002-2003 and an assistant professor at Caltech from 1997–2002. [1]
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Education
Brown is a Huntsville, Alabama native and graduated from Virgil Grissom High School in 1983. Huntsville is a city in Madison and Limestone Counties in the U Virgil I Grissom High School is a Public high school in Huntsville Alabama with approximately 2000 students in grades 9 - 12 from Brown earned his A.B. in physics from Princeton University in 1987. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. He did his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley where he earned an M.Sc. in astronomy in 1990 and a Ph.D in astronomy in 1994. The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. [1]
Discoveries
Brown is well-known in the scientific community for his surveys for distant objects orbiting the Sun. His team has discovered many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). A trans-Neptunian object (TNO is any object in the Solar system that Orbits the sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune. Particularly notable are Eris, the first TNO discovered that is larger than Pluto, and is one of a number of dwarf planets in the Solar System; 90377 Sedna, a planetoid thought to be the first observed body belonging to the inner Öpik-Oort cloud; and 90482 Orcus. The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> 90377 Sedna (ˈsɛdnə) is a Trans-Neptunian Minor planet is a term used since the 19th century to describe objects such as Asteroids that are in Orbit around the Sun but are not Planets The Oort cloud ( ort alternatively the Öpik-Oort Cloud) is a hypothetical spherical cloud of Comets believed to lie roughly 50 000 AU, TemplateInfobox Planet. --> 90482 Orcus (, Orcus originally known by the Provisional designation
Brown's team famously named Eris and its moon Dysnomia with the informal names Xena and Gabrielle, respectively, after the two main characters of Xena: Warrior Princess. Dysnomia (,, or as in Greek Δυσνομία officially (136199 Eris I Dysnomia, is the only known moon of the Dwarf planet Eris Xena is the main character in the television series Xena Warrior Princess and a recurring character on the series Hercules The Legendary Journeys Dysnomia (,, or as in Greek Δυσνομία officially (136199 Eris I Dysnomia, is the only known moon of the Dwarf planet Eris Xena Warrior Princess is an American Television series that aired from September 15 1995 until June 18 2001
Controversy
Brown and his team also had been observing (136108) 2003 EL61 for approximately six months before its announced discovery by José Luis Ortiz Moreno and colleagues from the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain. José Luis Ortiz Moreno is an astronomer and former Vicedirector of Technology at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA Spain. The Observatorio de Sierra Nevada ( Sierra Nevada Observatory, OSN is located at Loma de Dilar (2896 m altitude in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Brown originally indicated his support for Ortiz's team being given credit for the discovery of 2003 EL61. However, further investigation showed that a website containing archives of where Brown's team's telescopes had been pointed while tracking 2003 EL61 had been accessed eight times in the three days preceding Ortiz's announcement, by computers with IP addresses that were traced back to the website of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC, Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia), where Ortiz works, and to e-mail messages sent by Ortiz and his student. An Internet Protocol ( IP) address is a numerical identification ( Logical address) that is assigned to devices participating in a Computer network The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia IAA-CSIC is an astrophysics-related research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research The Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas ( CSIC) Spanish or Spanish National Research Council is the largest public research organisation These website accesses came a week after Brown had published an abstract for an upcoming conference talk at which he had planned to announce the discovery of 2003 EL61; the abstract referred to 2003 EL61 by a code that was the same code used in the online telescope logs; and the Andalusia computers had accessed the logs containing that code directly, as would be the case after an Internet search, without going through the home page or other pages of the archives. [2] When asked about this online activity, Ortiz responded with an email to Brown that suggested Brown was at fault for "hiding objects," and said that "the only reason why we are now exchanging e-mail is because you did not report your object. "[3] Brown says that this statement by Ortiz contradicts the accepted scientific practice of analyzing one's research until one is satisfied that it is accurate, then submitting it to peer review prior to any public announcement. However, the MPC only needs precise enough orbit determination on the object in order to provide discovery credit, and Ortiz et al not only provided the orbit, but "precovery" images of the body in 1957 plates. The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO which is part of the Center for Astrophysics (CfA along with the Harvard
The then director of the IAA, José Carlos del Toro, distanced himself from Ortiz, insisting that its researchers have "sole responsibility" for themselves.
Although the matter has not yet been settled as of September 2005, Brown has petitioned the International Astronomical Union to credit his team rather than Ortiz as the discoverers of 2003 EL61. At least one authority within the IAU has suggested that Brown's team will indeed end up being recognized as the discoverers.
Honors and Awards
Brown was named one of Time's 100 Influential People of 2006. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and [4] In 2007 he received Caltech's annual Feynman Prize, Caltech's most prestigious teaching honor.
Students and Postdocs
Michael Brown's former graduate students and postdocs include astrophysicists Jean-Luc Margot, Chad Trujillo, and Marc Kuchner. Jean-Luc Margot is an Astronomer and an Assistant Professor at Cornell University. Early career Trujillo attended Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park Illinois. Marc Kuchner is an American astrophysicist a staff member at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Personal life
Brown married Diane Binney on March 1, 2003. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. [5] They have one daughter, Lilah Binney Brown, born July 7, 2005. Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [6]
Footnotes
- ^ a b Brown, Michael. Curriculum vitae. Retrieved on 2006-08-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
- ^ Brown, Michael. The electronic trail. Retrieved on 2006-08-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
- ^ Overbye, Dennis. "One Find, Two Astronomers: An Ethical Brawl", New York Times, 2005-09-13. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September Retrieved on 2006-08-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
- ^ Lemonick, Michael D. . "Mike Brown: Pluto's Worst Nightmare", Time, 2006-04-30. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Retrieved on 2006-08-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
- ^ Brown, Michael. Mike and Diane's Fabulous Wedding Web Page. Retrieved on 2006-08-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
- ^ Brown, Michael. Lilah Binney Brown. Retrieved on 2006-08-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
- Wilkinson, Alex. "The Tenth Planet", The New Yorker, 2006-07-24, pp. The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. 50.
Affiliations
Michael E. Brown is an Alliance Member of the Meade 4M Community who applauds his efforts to inform the public about the solar system. Meade 4M Community is the world's first factory-sponsored Astronomical society supported by an alliance of Astronomy and Space exploration organizations