Tom Gehrels

Tom Gehrels , born in 1925 with Harlem, is a Astronome néerlando - American.

He contributed to the assembly of the program Spacewatch dedicated in the search of asteroids géocroiseurs.

He discovered a big number of Comet S, of which periodic comets 64P/Swift-Gehrels, 78P/Gehrels, 82P/Gehrels and 90P/Gehrels.

He also discovered more than 3000 Astéroïde S, of which the asteroids Apollo (1864) Maze and (5011) Ptah, the Astéroïde Amor (4587) Rees, as well as dozen Trojan asteroids.

The majority of its most recent discoveries of asteroids were made jointly with the couple Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld. It made a sweeping of the sky using the telescope of Schmidt of 48 inches of the Observatoire of the Mount Palomar and dispatched the plates with the two Dutch astronomers with the Observatoire of Leyde, which analyzed them to find new asteroids. The trio is credited jointly with several thousands of discoveries.

During the Second world war Gehrels belonged to resistance Dutchwoman and he interviewed surviving political prisoners who were forced to manufacture rockets V1 and V2 under the supervision of Wernher von Braun. He affirms that von Braun carried a greater responsibility and culpability in the ill treatment of the prisoners that its official biography " did not let it appear; aseptisée".

Books

One the Glassy Sea: Year Astronomer' S Journey , Tom Gehrels, ISBN 0-88318-598-9

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