Michael A'Hearn
{{short description|American astronomer and professor (1940-2017)}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Michael A'Hearn
|birth_name = Michael F. A'Hearn
|image = Bio-mahearn.jpg
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|11|17}}
|birth_place = Wilmington, Delaware, United States
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|05|29|1940|11|17}}
|death_place = Maryland, United States
|alma_mater = Boston College
University of Wisconsin–Madison
|field = Astronomy
|known_for =
|prizes = Gerard P. Kuiper Prize
}}
Michael Francis A'Hearn (November 17, 1940 – May 29, 2017) was an American astronomer and astronomy professor at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. He was also the principal investigator for NASA's EPOXI mission.
Career
He received his B.A. in science at Boston College and his Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was the principal investigator for the NASA Deep Impact mission. He aided in the development of systems for surveying abundances in comets as well as techniques for determining the sizes of cometary nuclei which uses optical and infrared measurements.
His studies focused on comets as well as asteroids and he also supervises numerous graduate students. He was an elected fellow of the AAAS. He authored over 100 papers published in journals and was also an avid sailor who had a commercial coast guard license.{{cite web|url=http://www.astro.umd.edu/people/ma.html|title=Michael A'Hearn's Astronomy Department Home Page|website=www.astro.umd.edu|accessdate=1 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925033113/http://www.astro.umd.edu/people/ma.html|archive-date=25 September 2007|url-status=dead}}
In June 1986, the main-belt asteroid 3192 A'Hearn, discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, was named after him in honor of his contributions to cometary science.
In 2008, he received the Gerard P. Kuiper Prize. He died on May 29, 2017, at the age of 76.{{cite web|url=http://nasawatch.com/archives/2017/05/michael-ahearn.html|title=Michael A'Hearn - NASA Watch|website=nasawatch.com|date=30 May 2017 |accessdate=1 June 2017}}
Honors
= Awards =
= Eponym =
- 3192 A'Hearn, an asteroid of the inner main-belt named after A'Hearn
References
{{reflist
|refs=
|title = American Men & Women of Science, Vol. 1
|publisher = Thomson/Gale
|date = 2009
|isbn = 9780787665241
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=glNYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22A%27Hearn,+Michael%22+1940
|accessdate = 3 May 2016}}
|title = 3192 A'Hearn (1982 BY1)
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=3192
|accessdate = 3 May 2016}}
}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121125035827/http://www.astro.umd.edu/~ma/ Michael F. A'Hearn's homepage]
- [http://dps.aas.org/prizes/kuiper/ Kuiper Prize website of the American Astronomical Society]
- [http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/deepimpact/mission/bio-mahearn.cfm Nasa bio on Deep Impact website]
- [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-honors-comet-science-pioneer-michael-a-hearn NASA EPSM award website]
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Category:20th-century American astronomers
Category:Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni
Category:University of Maryland, College Park faculty
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni