Eric Walter Elst facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Walter Elst
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| Born | 30 November 1936  Kapellenbos |
| Died | 2 January 2022 (aged 85) Antwerp |
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| Website | http://www.angelfire.com/id/ericelst |
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Eric Walter Elst was a Belgian astronomer. An astronomer is a scientist who studies everything in space, like stars, planets, and galaxies. He was born on November 30, 1936, and passed away on January 2, 2022.
Eric Elst worked at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle. He was famous for finding many asteroids. Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. The Minor Planet Center, which keeps track of all minor planets, says he was one of the top 10 people in the world for discovering them! He found thousands of asteroids between 1986 and 2009. He made many of his discoveries at the ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile and at the Rozhen Observatory in Bulgaria.
The minor planet 3936 Elst was named after him. This asteroid is about 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) wide. It is a stony asteroid that orbits in the main asteroid belt.
Discoveries
Eric Elst discovered 3,866 numbered minor planets. He found these between 1986 and 2009.
Some of his most interesting discoveries include:
- 4486 Mithra: This is a near-Earth object, meaning it comes close to Earth's orbit. It is also an Apollo asteroid.
- 7968 Elst-Pizarro: This is a very special object. It is classified as both an asteroid and a comet. Comets are icy bodies that release gas or dust.
- Jupiter trojans: He found more than 25 of these. Jupiter trojans are asteroids that share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. They stay in stable points ahead of or behind the giant planet.
- binary asteroids: These are two asteroids that orbit each other. Examples he found include 4492 Debussy and 15268 Wendelinefroger.
- Amor asteroids: These asteroids orbit the Sun between Earth and Mars. One he found is 21088 Chelyabinsk.
- Many main-belt asteroids: These are found in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Some examples are 9936 Al-Biruni, 12838 Adamsmith, 13058 Alfredstevens, 13070 Seanconnery, and 13963 Euphrates. Euphrates is interesting because it orbits in a special way with Jupiter, called a 2:1 resonance. This means for every two times Jupiter orbits the Sun, Euphrates orbits once.
Other asteroids he discovered have interesting names too, like 12696 Camus, 8116 Jeanperrin, 22740 Rayleigh, 6267 Rozhen, and 9951 Tyrannosaurus.
Personal life and death
Eric Elst was born in Kapellen, Belgium, on November 30, 1936. He passed away in Antwerp on January 2, 2022, at 85 years old.
See also
- List of minor planet discoverers
