Charles T. Kowal
Encyclopedia
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: 19
1876 Napolitania
1876 Napolitania
1876 Napolitania is an inner main-belt asteroid discovered on January 31, 1970 by C. Kowal at Palomar.- External links :*...

 
January 31, 1970
1939 Loretta
1939 Loretta
1939 Loretta is a main-belt asteroid discovered on October 17, 1974 by C. Kowal at Palomar.- External links :*...

 
October 17, 1974
1981 Midas
1981 Midas
The asteroid 1981 Midas was discovered on March 6, 1973 by Charles T. Kowal at Palomar Observatory. It is named after Midas, the king of Phrygia in Greek mythology who turned objects to gold when he touched them...

 
March 6, 1973
2060 Chiron
2060 Chiron
2060 Chiron is a minor planet in the outer Solar System. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal , it was the first-known member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs, with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus.Although it was initially classified as an asteroid, it was later found to...

 
October 18, 1977
2063 Bacchus
2063 Bacchus
The Apollo, Venus- and Mars-crosser asteroid 2063 Bacchus was discovered on April 24, 1977, by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory. In March 1996 radar observations of the asteroid were conducted at the Goldstone Observatory under the direction of JPL scientists Steven Ostro and Lance...

 
April 24, 1977
2102 Tantalus
2102 Tantalus
2102 Tantalus is a Apollo asteroid discovered on December 27, 1975 by C. Kowal at Palomar Observatory.- External links :*...

 
December 27, 1975
2134 Dennispalm
2134 Dennispalm
2134 Dennispalm is a main-belt asteroid discovered on December 24, 1976 by Kowal, C. at Palomar.- External links :*...

 
December 24, 1976
2241 Alcathous
2241 Alcathous
2241 Alcathous is a Jupiter trojan discovered on November 22, 1979, by Kowal, C. at Palomar.- External links :*...

 
November 22, 1979
2340 Hathor
2340 Hathor
2340 Hathor is an asteroid that was discovered on October 22, 1976 by C.T. Kowal at Palomar. Like the other objects of Aten type, Hathor is named for an Egyptian deity. Known as a sky-goddess and the daughter of Ra, Hathor was also identified with Aphrodite. The name was proposed by E...

 
October 22, 1976
2594 Acamas
2594 Acamas
2594 Acamas is a Jupiter Trojan discovered on October 4, 1978 by Kowal, C. at Palomar.-References:...

 
October 4, 1978
2629 Rudra
2629 Rudra
2629 Rudra is a Mars-crossing asteroid discovered on September 13, 1980 by C. Kowal at Palomar.- References :...

 
September 13, 1980
3163 Randi
3163 Randi
Asteroid 3163 Randi was discovered on August 28, 1981 by Charles T. Kowal at Palomar Observatory, California. It has an orbital period of 3.705 years and a semi-major axis of 2.395 AU and is a Mars-crosser asteroid....

 
August 28, 1981
} || February 11, 1977
|-
| 4312 Knacke
4312 Knacke
4302 Knacke is a main-belt asteroid discovered on November 30, 1980 by Schelte J. Bus and Charles T. Kowal at Palomar.- External links :*...

|| November 29, 1978
|-
| (4596) 1981 QB
(4596) 1981 QB
1981 QB is an Amor minor planet and Near-Earth object. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on August 28, 1981.-External links:*...

 || August 28, 1981
|-
| (4688) 1980 WF
(4688) 1980 WF
1980 WF is an Amor minor planet and Near-Earth object. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on November 29, 1980.-External links:*...

 || November 29, 1980
|-
| (5660) 1974 MA
(5660) 1974 MA
1974 MA is an Apollo-type near-Earth minor planet. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on June 26, 1974.-External links:*...

 || June 26, 1974
|-
| (24617) 1978 WU || November 29, 1978
|-
| || November 25, 1981
|-
| colspan="2" style="font-size: smaller;" |
  1. with Edward L. G. Bowell
    Edward L. G. Bowell
    Edward L. G. Bowell , known as "Ted", is an American astronomer. Bowell was educated at Emanuel School London, University College, London, and the Université de Paris....

  2. 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...


|}
Charles Thomas Kowal (November 8, 1940 - November 28, 2011) 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...

.

He discovered two moons
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....

 of 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,...

: Leda
Leda (moon)
Leda , also known as ', is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Mount Palomar Observatory on September 14, 1974, after three nights' worth of photographic plates had been taken...

 in 1974 and Themisto
Themisto (moon)
Themisto , also known as ', is a small prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1975, lost, and then rediscovered in 2000.- Discovery and naming :...

 in 1975, although the latter was lost and not rediscovered until 2000.

He also discovered the unusual 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...

/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...

 2060 Chiron
2060 Chiron
2060 Chiron is a minor planet in the outer Solar System. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal , it was the first-known member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs, with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus.Although it was initially classified as an asteroid, it was later found to...

 in 1977, which became the first object in the Centaur class after a second one was discovered 15 years later.

Besides Chiron he discovered or co-discovered a number of other asteroids, including notably the 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...

 2340 Hathor
2340 Hathor
2340 Hathor is an asteroid that was discovered on October 22, 1976 by C.T. Kowal at Palomar. Like the other objects of Aten type, Hathor is named for an Egyptian deity. Known as a sky-goddess and the daughter of Ra, Hathor was also identified with Aphrodite. The name was proposed by E...

; 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 1981 Midas
1981 Midas
The asteroid 1981 Midas was discovered on March 6, 1973 by Charles T. Kowal at Palomar Observatory. It is named after Midas, the king of Phrygia in Greek mythology who turned objects to gold when he touched them...

, 2063 Bacchus
2063 Bacchus
The Apollo, Venus- and Mars-crosser asteroid 2063 Bacchus was discovered on April 24, 1977, by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory. In March 1996 radar observations of the asteroid were conducted at the Goldstone Observatory under the direction of JPL scientists Steven Ostro and Lance...

, 2102 Tantalus
2102 Tantalus
2102 Tantalus is a Apollo asteroid discovered on December 27, 1975 by C. Kowal at Palomar Observatory.- External links :*...

, and (5660) 1974 MA
(5660) 1974 MA
1974 MA is an Apollo-type near-Earth minor planet. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on June 26, 1974.-External links:*...

; the 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...

s (4596) 1981 QB
(4596) 1981 QB
1981 QB is an Amor minor planet and Near-Earth object. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on August 28, 1981.-External links:*...

 and (4688) 1980 WF
(4688) 1980 WF
1980 WF is an Amor minor planet and Near-Earth object. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on November 29, 1980.-External links:*...

; and the 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 2241 Alcathous
2241 Alcathous
2241 Alcathous is a Jupiter trojan discovered on November 22, 1979, by Kowal, C. at Palomar.- External links :*...

 and 2594 Acamas
2594 Acamas
2594 Acamas is a Jupiter Trojan discovered on October 4, 1978 by Kowal, C. at Palomar.-References:...

.

He also discovered many supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...

s in other galaxies, and discovered or co-discovered some 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...

s, including periodic comets 99P/Kowal
99P/Kowal
- References :*...

, 104P/Kowal, 134P/Kowal-Vavrova, 143P/Kowal-Mrkos
143P/Kowal-Mrkos
-External links:*...

, 158P/Kowal-LINEAR
158P/Kowal-LINEAR
-External links:*...

 (and Chiron has the cometary designation 95P/Chiron).

During the 1970s, he and Dr. Eleanor Helin, using the California Institute of Technology's (Caltech) 48" Schmidt telescope (now called the Samuel Oschin Telescope) on Palomar Mountain, searched for and tracked previously unknown near-Earth orbiting asteroids.

Kowal won the James Craig Watson Medal
James Craig Watson Medal
thumb|right|400px|James Craig Watson MedalThe James Craig Watson Medal was established by the bequest of James Craig Watson, and is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for contributions to astronomy.The recipients have been:-External links:*...

 in 1979.

Kowal was awarded the initial R. R. Newton Award for Scientific History, for his discovery that Galileo had observed Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...

.
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