Jean Mueller facts for kids
Jean Mueller (born in 1950) is an amazing American astronomer. She has discovered many interesting things in space! These include comets, minor planets (small rocky objects), and even giant star explosions called supernovae. She made these discoveries while working at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California.
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Scientific Career
A Pioneer in Astronomy
In 1983, Jean Mueller made history. She became the first woman to operate the famous Hooker telescope at Mt. Wilson Observatory. Just two years later, in 1985, she was also the first woman hired as a telescope operator at Palomar Observatory.
Working with the Palomar Sky Survey
In August 1985, a big project called the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II) began. This project used the Samuel Oschin telescope (which was then called the 48-inch Schmidt Camera) at Palomar. Jean Mueller started working there in July 1985 as the 48-Inch Night Assistant.
Her job was to observe the sky and operate the telescope. She helped create over 5,500 special photographic glass plates. These plates captured images of the night sky. On June 3, 2000, she had the honor of setting the telescope and removing the very last plate from the historic Schmidt Camera. That same night, she also discovered her final supernova, named 2000cm!
Hunting for Space Objects
Jean Mueller spent many extra hours looking closely at the POSS II plates. She used a special machine to magnify the images on the 1-millimeter thick glass plates. She was searching for comets, fast-moving asteroids, and supernovae.
Sometimes, she would mark over a hundred galaxies on a single plate to find possible supernovae. She would then compare these new plates with older ones from the first Palomar Sky Survey (POSS I). This careful work helped her find all her amazing discoveries during the POSS II project.
Discoveries
| 4257 Ubasti | August 23, 1987 |
| 4558 Janesick | July 12, 1988 |
| 6569 Ondaatje | June 22, 1993 |
| 9162 Kwiila | July 29, 1987 |
| (11028) 1987 UW | October 18, 1987 |
| 11500 Tomaiyowit | October 28, 1989 |
| 12711 Tukmit | January 19, 1991 |
| 16465 Basilrowe | March 24, 1990 |
| 19204 Joshuatree | June 21, 1992 |
| 24658 Misch | October 18, 1987 |
| (360191) 1988 TA | October 5, 1988 |
| (408752) 1991 TB2 | 3 October 1991 |
| (412976) 1987 WC | 21 November 1987 |
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While working at Palomar Observatory, Jean Mueller discovered a total of 15 comets. Seven of these were periodic comets, meaning they return to our view regularly. Some examples are 120P/Mueller and 136P/Mueller. She also found eight non-periodic comets, which means they might only be seen once.
The Minor Planet Center officially credits her with finding 13 numbered minor planets between 1987 and 1993. These include several near-Earth objects (NEOs). NEOs are asteroids or comets that come close to Earth's orbit. Some examples she found are the Apollo asteroids 4257 Ubasti, 9162 Kwiila, and 12711 Tukmit, and the Amor asteroid 6569 Ondaatje.
Mueller also discovered 107 supernovae. Supernovae are powerful and bright explosions of stars. Nine of these were co-discoveries, meaning she found them with other astronomers.
Honors
An Asteroid Named After Her
An asteroid named 4031 Mueller was named in honor of Jean Mueller. This asteroid is part of the Hungaria family of asteroids. It was named to celebrate her many important astronomical discoveries.
The asteroid was found on February 12, 1985, by Carolyn Shoemaker at Palomar Observatory. The official naming was announced on December 12, 1989.
Affiliations
Jean Mueller is an advisor for the Meade 4M Community. This group supports her work in sharing astronomy with others.
See also
In Spanish: Jean Mueller para niños
