David H. Levy

For other people of the same name, see David Levy (disambiguation).
David Levy giving a lecture at JPL.
Asteroids discovered: 53
5261 Eureka[1] June 20, 1990
5852 Nanette[2] April 19, 1991
6398 Timhunter[2][3] February 10, 1991
6401 Roentgen[2][3] April 15, 1991
6485 Wendeesther[2][3] October 25, 1990
6670 Wallach[2] June 4, 1994
6715 Sheldonmarks[1] August 22, 1990
6914 Becquerel[1][2] April 3, 1992
7344 Summerfield[2] June 4, 1992
8021 Walter[2] October 22, 1990
8358 Rickblakley[2] November 4, 1989
9070 Ensab[2] July 23, 1993
9083 Ramboehm[2] November 28, 1994
10332 Defi[2] May 13, 1991
10346 Triathlon[2] April 2, 1992
11548 Jerrylewis[2] November 25, 1992
11569 Virgilsmith[2] May 27, 1993
11911 Angel[2] June 4, 1992
11941 Archinal[2] May 23, 1993
13057 Jorgensen[2] November 13, 1990
13111 Papacosmas[2] July 23, 1993
13123 Tyson[2] May 16, 1994
13615 Manulis[2] November 28, 1994
14429 Coyne[2] December 3, 1991
15276 Diebel[2] April 14, 1991
15294 Underwood[2] November 7, 1991
15321 Donnadean[2] August 13, 1993
15779 Scottroberts[2] July 26, 1993
16514 Stevelia[2] November 11, 1990
16669 Rionuevo[2] December 8, 1993
17493 Wildcat[2] December 31, 1991
18368 Flandrau[2] April 15, 1991
18434 Mikesandras[2] March 12, 1994
19980 Barrysimon[2] November 22, 1989
22312 Kelly[2] April 14, 1991
22338 Janemojo[2] June 3, 1992
24778 Nemsu[2] May 24, 1993
24779 Presque Isle[2] July 23, 1993
27776 Cortland[2] February 25, 1992
27810 Daveturner[2] July 23, 1993
29292 Conniewalker[2] May 24, 1993
30840 JackAlice[2] April 15, 1991
117032 DavidLane[4][5] May 14, 2004
144769 Zachariassen[4] April 19, 2004
144907 Whitehorne[4][5] December 16, 2004
157421 Carolpercy[4][5] October 8, 2004
170995 Ritajoewright[4] March 3, 2005
198450 Scattolin[4][5] December 9, 2004
245158 Thomasandrews[4] October 13, 2004
271763 Hebrewu[4] September 17, 2004
283990 Randallrosenfeld[4] September 16, 2004
294727 Dennisritchie[4] January 31, 2008
300909 Kenthompson[4] January 30, 2008
339223 Stongemorin[4] October 13, 2004
  1. 1 with Henry E. Holt
  2. 2 with Carolyn S. Shoemaker
  3. 3 with Eugene M. Shoemaker
  4. 4 with T. Glinos
  5. 5 with W. Levy

David H. Levy (born May 22, 1948) is a Canadian astronomer and science writer who co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in 1993, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.

Biography

Levy was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1948. He developed an interest in astronomy at an early age. However, he pursued and received bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature.[1]

Levy went on to discover 22 comets, either independently or with Gene and Carolyn S. Shoemaker. He has written 34 books, mostly on astronomical subjects, such as The Quest for Comets, a biography of Pluto-discoverer Clyde Tombaugh in 2006, and his tribute to Gene Shoemaker in Shoemaker by Levy. He has provided periodic articles for Sky and Telescope magazine,[1] as well as Parade Magazine, Sky News and, most recently, Astronomy Magazine.

Periodic comets that Levy co-discovered include 118P/Shoemaker–Levy, 129P/Shoemaker–Levy, 135P/Shoemaker–Levy, 137P/Shoemaker–Levy, 138P/Shoemaker–Levy, 145P/Shoemaker–Levy, and 181P/Shoemaker–Levy. In addition, Levy is the sole discoverer of two periodic comets: 255P/Levy and P/1991 L3.

On February 28, 2010, Levy was awarded a Ph. D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for his successful completion of his thesis "The Sky in Early Modern English Literature: A Study of Allusions to Celestial Events in Elizabethan and Jacobean Writing, 1572–1620."

He lives in Vail, Arizona and is married to Wendee Levy.[2] Levy and his wife hosted a weekly internet radio talk show on astronomy, which ended on February 3, 2011, with a planned "Final Show". Show archives are still available in WMA and MP3 formats.[3] Levy is President of the National Sharing the Sky Foundation.[4]

Levy is a Master of Astronomy with DeTao Masters Academy (DTMA).

Awards

The asteroid 3673 Levy was named in his honour. Levy was awarded the C.A. Chant Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 1980. Levy was recipient of the 1990 G. Bruce Blair Medal.[5] In 1993 he won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In 2007, Levy received the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets. In 2008, a special edition telescope, "The Comet Hunter" was co-designed by Levy.[6]

Together with Martyn Ives, David Taylor, and Benjamin Woolley, Levy won an 1998 News & Documentary Emmy Award in the "Individual Achievement in a Craft, Writer" category for the script of the documentary 3 Minutes to Impact produced by York Films for the Discovery Channel.[7][8][9]

Discoveries

Comet Discoveries

Visual
Photographic, as part of team of Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy

Other discoveries

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Editors, The (1948-05-22). "David H. Levy | Canadian astronomer and science writer". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  2. "Welcome". Jarnac.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  3. "Let's Talk Stars". Letstalkstars.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  4. "Home". Sharingthesky.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  5. "G. BRUCE BLAIR AWARD Recipients". Western Amateur Astronomers. Western Amateur Astronomers. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. http://web.archive.org/web/20081218124055/http://explorescientific.com:80/sharingthesky/index.html. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. International Documentary Association (1998). International documentary: the newsletter of the International Documentary Association 17. International Documentary Association. p. 59.
  8. "York Films Of England". Yorkfilms.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  9. "York Films Of England". Yorkfilms.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David H. Levy.
Preceded by
Richard D. Lines & Helen Lines
Amateur Achievement Award of Astronomical Society of the Pacific
1993
Succeeded by
Walter H. Haas
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.