José Luis Ortiz Moreno
Encyclopedia
José Luis Ortiz Moreno is an astronomer
, and former Vicedirector of Technology at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
(IAA), Spain
. He leads a team working on minor solar system objects
at the Sierra Nevada Observatory
in Granada
, Spain.
On July 29, 2005, Ortiz announced the discovery of the dwarf planet
, which went by the temporary designation .
Michael E. Brown
and his team at Caltech had also been observing Haumea, and for a longer period of time than Ortiz, but had withheld publication pending securing its orbital parameters. Brown initially supported Ortiz and his team being given credit for the discovery. However, he withdrew that support when it turned out that Ortiz had accessed Brown's public observation logs and research just before announcing the discovery. Ortiz maintained that he only did so to see if this was the same object that his team had been tracking. The IAU
did not award credit to either party, but listed the Spanish observatory as the place of discovery, and accepted the Caltech suggested name of Haumea rather than Ortiz's Ataecina.
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...
, and former Vicedirector of Technology at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía is an astrophysics-related research institute funded by the High Council of Scientific Research of the Spanish government Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , and is located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
(IAA), Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. He leads a team working on minor solar system objects
Minor planet
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
at the Sierra Nevada Observatory
Sierra Nevada Observatory
The Observatorio de Sierra Nevada is located at Loma de Dilar in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in the province of Granada, established in 1981...
in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Spain.
On July 29, 2005, Ortiz announced the discovery of the dwarf planet
Dwarf planet
A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite...
, which went by the temporary designation .
Michael E. Brown
Michael E. Brown
Michael E. Brown has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003....
and his team at Caltech had also been observing Haumea, and for a longer period of time than Ortiz, but had withheld publication pending securing its orbital parameters. Brown initially supported Ortiz and his team being given credit for the discovery. However, he withdrew that support when it turned out that Ortiz had accessed Brown's public observation logs and research just before announcing the discovery. Ortiz maintained that he only did so to see if this was the same object that his team had been tracking. The IAU
IAU
IAU may refer to:*International Astronomical Union*International American University*International American University College of Medicine*International Association of Universities*International Association of Ultrarunners...
did not award credit to either party, but listed the Spanish observatory as the place of discovery, and accepted the Caltech suggested name of Haumea rather than Ortiz's Ataecina.
External links and references
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
- One Find, Two Astronomers: An Ethical Brawl, The New York Times, September 13, 2005
- Astronomer denies improper use of web data, NewScientist.com, September 21, 2005