Eleanor F. Helin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Asteroid 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... s discovered: 872 2062 Aten 2062 Aten 2062 Aten is an asteroid that was discovered at the Palomar Mountain Observatory by Eleanor F. Helin, who is now the principal scientist for the NEAT project. It is named after Aten, the Egyptian god of the sun....			January 7, 1976	Aten asteroid Aten asteroid The Aten asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after the first of the group to be discovered . They are defined by having semi-major axes of less than one astronomical unit...
2100 Ra-Shalom 2100 Ra-Shalom The asteroid 2100 Ra-Shalom was discovered in 1978 by Eleanor F. Helin. It was the second asteroid in the Aten class, after the discovery of 2062 Aten in 1976, also by Helin. The Atens have a semi-major axis of less than 1 AU; of the Atens, Ra-Shalom is one of the asteroids with the smallest...	September 10, 1978	Aten asteroid Aten asteroid The Aten asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after the first of the group to be discovered . They are defined by having semi-major axes of less than one astronomical unit...

} || April 17, 1977 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

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| 3360 Syrinx || November 4, 1981 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| 3752 Camillo

3752 Camillo

3752 Camillo is an Apollo asteroid with a perihelion of 2.3273245 AU. It has an eccentricity of 0.302048 and an orbital period of 613.8625482 days .The asteroid was discovered on August 15, 1985 by Eleanor F. Helin and Maria A. Barucci....

|| August 15, 1985 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| (3757) 1982 XB

(3757) 1982 XB

1982 XB is an asteroid, about 0.5 kilometers in diameter, that completes one revolution around the Sun about every 2½ years. It was discovered by E. F. Helin at the Palomar Observatory on December 14, 1982. It is an S-type asteroid, meaning it possesses a silicaceous composition...

|| December 14, 1982 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the asteroid 1221 Amor. They approach the orbit of the Earth from beyond, but do not cross it. Most Amors do cross the orbit of Mars...

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| (3988) 1986 LA

(3988) 1986 LA

1986 LA is an Amor asteroid that is 0.7 kilometers in diameter. It completes one revolution around the Sun about once every 2 years. It was discovered by Eleanor F. Helin at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California.-References:...

|| June 4, 1986 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

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| 4015 Wilson-Harrington || November 15, 1979 || Comet

Comet

A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...

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| (4034) 1986 PA

(4034) 1986 PA

4034 Vishnu is an Apollo asteroid, 0.8 kilometers in diameter. It completes one revolution around the Sun almost once every year. It was disclovered by Eleanor F. Helin at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California on August 2, 1986...

|| August 2, 1986 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| 4055 Magellan

4055 Magellan

4055 Magellan is an Amor asteroid discovered on February 24, 1985, by E. Helin at Palomar.-See also:* V-type asteroid* HED meteorite* 4 Vesta* 3908 Nyx* 3551 Verenia- External links :*...

|| February 24, 1985 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

|-
| (4197) 1982 TA

(4197) 1982 TA

1982 TA was discovered on October 11, 1982, by Eleanor F. Helin and Eugene Shoemaker. It is an Apollo, Mars- and Venus-crosser asteroid, only 1.7 km in diameter....

|| October 11, 1982 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| 4660 Nereus

4660 Nereus

4660 Nereus is a small asteroid. It was discovered by Eleanor F. Helin on February 28, 1982, approximately 1 month after a near pass by the Earth. It is named after Nereus, a Titan in Greek mythology.Nereus is potentially a very important asteroid...

|| February 28, 1982 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| 4769 Castalia

4769 Castalia

The asteroid 4769 Castalia was the first asteroid to be modeled by radar imaging. It is an Apollo, Mars- and Venus-crosser asteroid. It was discovered on August 9, 1989, by Eleanor F. Helin on photographic plates taken at Palomar Observatory...

|| August 9, 1989 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| 4957 Brucemurray

4957 Brucemurray

4957 Brucemurray is an Amor asteroid discovered on December 15, 1990 by Eleanor F. Helin at Palomar.- External links :*...

|| December 15, 1990 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

|-
| 5653 Camarillo

5653 Camarillo

5653 Camarillo is an Amor asteroid with a perihelion of 1.248795 AU. It has an eccentricity of 0.30403 and an orbital period of 877.922 days .This asteroid was discovered on November 21, 1992 by Eleanor F. Helin and Kenneth J. Lawrence....

|| November 21, 1992 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

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| 6456 Golombek

6456 Golombek

6456 Golombek is an Amor asteroid discovered on July 27, 1992 by Eleanor F. Helin, K. Lawrence at Palomar. For the chess player and author, see Harry Golombek.- External links :*...

|| July 27, 1992 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

|-
| 6489 Golevka

6489 Golevka

6489 Golevka is an Apollo, Mars-crosser and Alinda asteroid, discovered in 1991 by Eleanor F. Helin.Its name has a complicated origin. In 1995, Golevka was studied simultaneously by three radar observatories across the world: Goldstone in California, Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope in Ukraine and...

|| May 10, 1991 || Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

|-
| 7336 Saunders

7336 Saunders

7336 Saunders is an Amor asteroid discovered on September 6, 1989 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.- External links :*...

|| September 6, 1989 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

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| 8013 Gordonmoore

8013 Gordonmoore

8013 Gordonmoore is an Amor asteroid discovered on May 18, 1990 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.- External links :*...

|| May 18, 1990 || Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

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| 9969 Braille

9969 Braille

9969 Braille is a small Mars-crossing asteroid that orbits the Sun once every 3.58 years. It was discovered in 1992 by astronomers at Palomar observatory and later named after Louis Braille, the inventor of the writing system for the blind...

|| May 27, 1992 ||
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| 26858 Misterrogers

26858 Misterrogers

26858 Misterrogers is a main-belt asteroid named after children's television host Fred Rogers. Rogers, who had a lifelong fascination with the sky and astronomy —he obtained a pilot's license while still in high school— also produced a planetarium show called The Sky above Mister...

|| March 21, 1993 ||
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with Schelte J. Bus
Schelte J. Bus
Schelte John "Bobby" Bus is an Associate Astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy and Support Astronomer at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility IRTF. He received his B.S. from Caltech in 1979, and was awarded his Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999.Bus...
with R. Scott Dunbar
R. Scott Dunbar
R. Scott Dunbar had a hand in the discovery of eight asteroids.Dunbar discovered the comet 3551 Verenia by himself. He was a co-discoverer with Eleanor F. Helin six times: 3360 Syrinx, 1987 OC, 6435 Daveross, 1984 DB, 1983 LB, and 1983 LC. Dunbar also co-discovered 3362 Khufu with Maria A....
with Maria A. Barucci
with Eugene M. Shoemaker
with Kenneth J. Lawrence
Kenneth J. Lawrence
Kenneth J. Lawrence is an American astronomer.He has discovered numerous asteroids, and also co-discovered periodic comet 152P/Helin-Lawrence. The asteroid 4969 Lawrence is named in his honor.-References:...

|}
Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin (November 19, 1932 - January 25, 2009) was an American astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking

Near Earth Asteroid Tracking

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking is a program run by NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory to discover near-Earth objects. The NEAT project began in December 1995 and ran until April 2007.-History:...

(NEAT) program of NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...

. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin. She retired in 2002.

Helin discovered or co-discovered 872 asteroids, including the first two Aten asteroid

Aten asteroid

The Aten asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after the first of the group to be discovered . They are defined by having semi-major axes of less than one astronomical unit...

s: 2062 Aten

2062 Aten

2062 Aten is an asteroid that was discovered at the Palomar Mountain Observatory by Eleanor F. Helin, who is now the principal scientist for the NEAT project. It is named after Aten, the Egyptian god of the sun....

and 2100 Ra-Shalom

2100 Ra-Shalom

The asteroid 2100 Ra-Shalom was discovered in 1978 by Eleanor F. Helin. It was the second asteroid in the Aten class, after the discovery of 2062 Aten in 1976, also by Helin. The Atens have a semi-major axis of less than 1 AU; of the Atens, Ra-Shalom is one of the asteroids with the smallest...

; the Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

s 4660 Nereus

4660 Nereus

, 4769 Castalia

4769 Castalia

and others; various Amor asteroid

Amor asteroid

s; three Trojan asteroid

Trojan asteroid

The Jupiter Trojans, commonly called Trojans or Trojan asteroids, are a large group of objects that share the orbit of the planet Jupiter around the Sun. Relative to Jupiter, each Trojan librates around one of the planet's two Lagrangian points of stability, and , that respectively lie 60° ahead...

s including 3240 Laocoon

3240 Laocoon

3240 Laocoon is a Jupiter Trojan discovered on November 7, 1978 by S. J. Bus at Palomar.- External links :*...

; and 9969 Braille

9969 Braille

.

She also discovered or co-discovered several comet

Comet

s, including periodic comets 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett

111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett

111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett is a periodic comet in our solar system. It was discovered by Elanor and Ron Helin on the 5th of January 1989 from images obtained on the 3rd and 4th of that month. It is a Jupiter family comet known for extremely close approaches to Jupiter. During these approaches, it...

, 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu

117P/Helin-Roman-Alu

117P/Helin-Roman-Alu, also known as Helin-Roman-Alu 1, is a periodic comet in our solar system.-External links:*...

and 132P/Helin-Roman-Alu

132P/Helin-Roman-Alu

132P/Helin-Roman-Alu, also known as Helin-Roman-Alu 2, is a periodic comet in our solar system.- External links :*...

.

Helin is credited as the discoverer of the object now known as both asteroid 4015 Wilson-Harrington and comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington

107P/Wilson-Harrington

Comet Wilson–Harrington is a periodic comet .Little known about it distinguishes it from other comets, but for the fact that it is also designated an asteroid, 4015 Wilson–Harrington .The comet was discovered on November 19, 1949, by Albert G...

. Although Wilson and Harrington

Robert G. Harrington

Robert G. Harrington was an American astronomer who worked at Palomar Observatory. He should not be confused with Robert Sutton Harrington, who was also an astronomer, but was born later and worked at the US Naval Observatory....

preceded her by some decades, their observations did not establish an orbit

Orbit

In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...

for the object, while her rediscovery did.

Asteroid 3267 Glo

3267 Glo

3267 Glo is a Mars-crossing asteroid discovered on January 3, 1981 by Bowell, E. at Flagstaff .- External links :*...

is named for her ("Glo" is Helin's nickname).

Helin was active in planetary science and astronomy at the California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for over three decades. In the early 1970s, she initiated the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey (PCAS) from Palomar Observatory

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...

. This program is responsible for the discovery of thousands of asteroids of all types including more than 200 in high inclination

Inclination

Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...

orbits, other asteroids in rare and unique types of orbits, 20 comets, and approximately 30 percent of the near-earth asteroids discovered worldwide.

Helin organized and coordinated the International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey

International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey

The International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey was organized and co-ordinated by Eleanor F. Helin during the 1980s, as the international aspect of the Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey . INAS attempted to expand the sky coverage and the discovery and recovery of Near-Earth asteroid around the world....

(INAS) during the 1980s, encouraging and stimulating worldwide interest in asteroids. In recognition of her accomplishments, she received NASA

NASA

's Exceptional Service Medal.

After conducting the PCAS photographic search program from Palomar for nearly 25 years, Helin concentrated on the new, upgraded Near Earth Asteroid Tracking

Near Earth Asteroid Tracking

Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking is a program run by NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory to discover near-Earth objects. The NEAT project began in December 1995 and ran until April 2007.-History:...

(NEAT) search program using electronic sensors on a large aperture telescope. She was the principal investigator for this program operating from JPL, for which she received the 1997 JPL Award for Excellence. She also received NASA's Group Achievement Award for the NEAT Team.

In operation since December 1995, NEAT is the first autonomous observing program; no JPL personnel are on-site, only the JPL Sunspark computer which runs the observing system through the night and transmits the data back to JPL each morning for team member review and confirmation. NEAT has detected over 26,000 objects, including 31 near-earth asteroids, two long period comets and the unique object, 1996 PW, the most eccentric asteroid known (e = 0.99012940), which moves in a long-period (4110.50 a

Julian year (astronomy)

In astronomy, a Julian year is a unit of measurement of time defined as exactly 365.25 days of 86 400 SI seconds each, totaling 31 557 600 seconds. The Julian year is the average length of the year in the Julian calendar used in Western societies in previous centuries, and for which the unit is...

), comet-like orbit (semi-major axis

Semi-major axis

The major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape...

256.601 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....

External links

Women in Science & Technology Month 1998 June 12, WITI museum

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