Maura Tombelli facts for kids

Maura Tombelli (born in 1952 in Montelupo Fiorentino, Italy) is an Italian amateur astronomer. She is well-known for discovering nearly 200 minor planets, which are small objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids. She started her journey in astronomy by observing variable stars, which are stars that change in brightness.

Maura Tombelli's Work in Space

Maura Tombelli is special because she is the only Italian woman known as an astrometrist. An astrometrist is a scientist who carefully measures the positions and movements of stars and planets in space.

In 1994, Maura teamed up with other Italian astronomers, Ulisse Munari and Giuseppe Forti. They started a five-year project at the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory to search for new minor planets. She also spent a lot of time observing and tracking objects with other discoverers. She was especially good at following up on near-Earth objects (NEOs). These are space rocks that come relatively close to Earth. Maura helped find 15817 Lucianotesi, which was the very first NEO discovered from Italy.

Today, Maura is working on an exciting project. She is helping to build a brand new observatory called Osservatorio di Montelupo. It will be located near her hometown of Montelupo Fiorentino.

Awards and Special Recognition

Because of her amazing work, a main-belt asteroid was named in her honor. This asteroid is called 9904 Mauratombelli. It was discovered in 1997 by Italian astronomers Andrea Boattini and Luciano Tesi.

See also

In Spanish: Maura Tombelli para niños