David C. Jewitt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Jewitt
Born	1958 (age 66–67) London, England
Alma mater	University College London
Known for	Discovery of the first body in the Kuiper belt
Awards	Shaw Prize (2012) Kavli Prize (2012)
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy, astrophysics
Institutions	UCLA
Thesis	(1983)
Doctoral advisor	James Westphal

David Jewitt (born 1958) is an astronomer. He studies our Solar System, especially its smaller objects. He works at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). There, he is a professor of astronomy. He also directs an institute that studies planets and exoplanets (planets outside our Solar System).

He is famous for being the first person, along with Jane Luu, to find an object in the Kuiper belt beyond Pluto and its moon Charon.

David Jewitt's Early Life

Jewitt was born in London, England, in 1958. His mother worked as a telephonist. His father made industrial steel cutters. The family lived with Jewitt's grandmother in a housing project.

His interest in astronomy began in 1965. He happened to see some bright meteors. News about NASA's Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 missions in 1968 and 1969 made him even more excited.

How He Started Exploring Space

His own space exploration started with a small telescope. His grandparents gave it to him for his birthday. He later got a bigger telescope from his uncle. Then he built an even larger one himself.

Jewitt became a serious amateur astronomer while still in school. He joined a group that studied the Moon. He regularly shared his observations with them.

His Education and Learning

Jewitt went to local primary and secondary schools. He also taught himself a lot. He borrowed books from a traveling library. This helped him learn more than the few books his parents could buy.

His interest in physics started when he was about twelve. A teacher introduced him to the subject. He had never heard of it before.

University Studies

In 1976, Jewitt went to University College London. He studied astronomy, physics, and mathematics. He also learned about computing and electronics. He studied at the main campus and at the UCL Observatory.

He especially enjoyed a physics course taught by Professor Sir Robert Boyd. Jewitt graduated in 1979 with top honors in astronomy. His friend, Roly Drower, also graduated with him.

Postgraduate Studies

Following advice from a professor, Jewitt decided to study further. He went to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1979. He earned a master's degree in planetary science in 1980.

He studied planetary nebulae and comets. He used the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory. He earned his Ph.D. in planetary science and astronomy in 1983.

David Jewitt's Career Path

In 1983, Jewitt became a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, he moved to the University of Hawaii. He was drawn by the powerful telescopes on Mauna Kea. He became an astronomer there.

In 2009, Jewitt returned to the mainland United States. He started working at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He became a professor in their Earth and Space Sciences department. In 2010, he also became a professor in the Physics and Astronomy department. In 2011, he became the Director of UCLA's Institute for Planets and Exoplanets.

His Amazing Discoveries

Jewitt's research covers many areas of planetary science. These include the Kuiper belt and circumstellar discs (disks of dust and gas around stars). He also studies planetary ring systems and comets. He looks at frozen materials in asteroids. He also studies the moons of gas giant planets. He researches how the Solar System formed and changed.

Discovering the Kuiper Belt

In 1992, after five years of searching, Jewitt and Jane X. Luu made a big discovery. They found 15760 Albion. This was the first Kuiper belt object found besides Pluto and Charon. They named it after a character in the poetry of William Blake. Albion is also an old poetic name for England.

They wanted to name it "Smiley" after a character from a favorite book. But that name was already used for another asteroid.

More Kuiper Belt Discoveries

Since finding 15760 Albion, Jewitt has found many more Kuiper belt objects. He used special wide-field surveys. Thanks to his work, we now know the Kuiper belt objects are in four main groups.

• The dynamically cold classical Kuiper belt has objects with nearly circular orbits. These orbits are only slightly tilted. 15760 Albion is a good example of this group.
• The dynamically hot classical Kuiper belt has objects with more stretched-out orbits. These are tilted at steeper angles.
• The scattered disc (or scattered Kuiper belt) was found in 1997. Its objects have very large, stretched, and tilted orbits.
• The Resonant Kuiper belt objects have orbits linked to Neptune's orbit. For example, some orbit twice for every three times Neptune orbits. Jewitt named the 3:2 resonant objects "plutinos." This is because Pluto was the first one discovered.

Scientists believe the Kuiper belt objects and gas giant planets moved to their current orbits. This happened because of their gravity pulling on each other. Neptune likely moved outward from closer to the Sun. The Kuiper belt objects moved outward with it.

Other Important Discoveries

In 1979, Jewitt discovered Adrastea. This is a moon of Jupiter. He found it in images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Since then, he has found over seventy more moons. These moons orbit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

In 1982, he became famous for finding Halley's Comet. He spotted it as it approached the Sun for its 1986 visit. He used the Hale telescope and an early CCD camera. He is also credited with finding over forty asteroids. The asteroid 6434 Jewitt was named in his honor.

Sharing His Knowledge

Jewitt has appeared on TV shows to talk about his work. In 1982, he was interviewed about finding Halley's Comet. This was for a BBC TV show called The Sky at Night. In 1985, he talked about it again on Horizon.

Years later, Horizon interviewed him again for a show about asteroids. Jewitt explained that it was hard to get enough telescope time for his Kuiper belt research. He had to look for objects when he was supposed to be working on other projects.

Jewitt has also written articles for magazines. These include Scientific American and Sky and Telescope. He helps non-scientists understand his discoveries.

Awards and Honors

Jewitt has received many awards for his work.

• In 1994, he won the University of Hawaii's Regent's Medal for research.
• In 1996, he was named Hawaii Scientist of the Year. NASA also gave him their Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.
• In 1998, he became an Honorary Fellow of University College London.
• In 2005, he became a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. He also became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• In 2012, he won the $1 million Shaw Prize for astronomy. He shared it with Jane X. Luu. They were recognized for finding and studying trans-Neptunian objects. These objects are like an "archaeological treasure" from the Solar System's formation.
• Also in 2012, he won the $1 million Kavli Prize for astrophysics. He shared it with Luu and Michael Brown for the same work.

His Personal Life

In 1991, Jewitt met Jing Li. She was a student from China studying solar physics. They met when she visited the University of Hawaii. Jewitt and Jing married in 1993. Their daughter, Suu Suu, was born in 2000.

As a child, Jewitt enjoyed writing, history, and music. He also liked machines, animals, trees, rocks, and fossils. As an adult, he enjoys the British TV series The Prisoner. He also likes the music of modern composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis.

In 2014, Jewitt was asked to predict the Earth's future. He felt hopeful. He believed that democracy was stronger than dictatorship. He also thought science was more important than religion.

See also

In Spanish: David C. Jewitt para niños