Biography:Eric Walter Elst

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For other uses, see Elst (disambiguation).
Short description: Belgian astronomer (1936–2022)

Eric Walter Elst (30 November 1936 – 2 January 2022) was a Belgian astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle and a prolific discoverer of asteroids. The Minor Planet Center ranks him among the top 10 discoverers of minor planets with thousands of discoveries made at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile and at the Rozhen Observatory in Bulgaria during 1986–2009.[1]

The minor planet 3936 Elst, a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, roughly 6 kilometers in diameter, was named in his honour.[2][3]

Discoveries

Elst is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 3866 numbered minor planets made between 1986 and 2009.[1]

Notable discoveries include 4486 Mithra, a near-Earth and Apollo asteroid, 7968 Elst-Pizarro, which is classified as both asteroid and comet, and more than 25 Jupiter trojans. His discoveries also include:

In December 2017, the asteroid 13975 Beatrixpotter, discovered by Elst in 1992, was renamed in memory of the writer, artist, and naturalist.[4]

Minor planet articles also exist for 12696 Camus, 8116 Jeanperrin, 22740 Rayleigh, 6267 Rozhen and 9951 Tyrannosaurus, among others.

Personal life and death

Elst was born in Kapellen on 30 November 1936. He died in Antwerp on 2 January 2022, at the age of 85.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 11 July 2017. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPDiscsNum.html. 
  2. ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(3936) Elst". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 335. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3925. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. 
  3. ↑ "LCDB Data for (3936) Elst". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/GenerateALCDEFPage_Local.php?AstInfo=3936%7CElst. 
  4. ↑ "13975 Beatrixpotter (1992 BP2)". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=13975#content. 
  5. ↑ VVS, Death notice Eric W. Elst (1936–2022)

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