8373 Stephengould
Encyclopedia
8373 Stephengould is an outer main-belt asteroid
discovered on January 1, 1992 by Carolyn S. Shoemaker
and Eugene Merle Shoemaker
at Palomar
. It is one of very few asteroids located in the 2 : 1 mean motion resonance
with Jupiter
. The asteroid was named after the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould
.
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
discovered on January 1, 1992 by Carolyn S. Shoemaker
Carolyn S. Shoemaker
Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker is an American astronomer and is a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. She holds the record for most comets discovered by an individual.- Personal life :...
and Eugene Merle Shoemaker
Eugene Merle Shoemaker
Eugene Merle Shoemaker , American geologist, was one of the founders of the fields of planetary science....
at Palomar
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...
. It is one of very few asteroids located in the 2 : 1 mean motion resonance
Orbital resonance
In celestial mechanics, an orbital resonance occurs when two orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other, usually due to their orbital periods being related by a ratio of two small integers. Orbital resonances greatly enhance the mutual gravitational influence of...
with Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
. The asteroid was named after the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
.