Local Amateur Astronomer Honoured
Armagh Observatory, 17th September 2001.
Approximately 20 members of the
East Antrim Astronomical Society (EAAS)
and an equal number of friends from the
Irish Astronomical Association
(Belfast) and the
Irish Astronomical Society (Dublin) visited Armagh
Observatory today to celebrate the naming of a minor planet or asteroid
after one of their more distinguished members, Mr John McConnell.
John McConnell, who was born in 1946, comes from Maghaberry and is
currently the Chairperson of the EAAS which meets monthly in the Thompson
School, Ballyrobert, Co. Antrim. He is well known among both professional
and amateur astronomers, and takes a particular interest in observational
astronomy and astrophotography, and in the history of Irish astronomy.
The asteroid, (9929)McConnell, was discovered in 1982 at the
Oak Ridge
Observatory, in Harvard, Massachusetts, operated by the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where Armagh Observatory's
former Director
Dr Eric Lindsay spent a number of years working for his
PhD more than 70 years ago. The minor planet is very faint, being only 5
miles across and currently lying more than 130 million miles away from the
Earth in the constellation of Aries. It has a nearly circular orbit
passing close to the inner edge of the main asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter.
By gaining a piece of heavenly real estate, John McConnell joins a list of
almost ten thousand names from all over the world, including individuals,
groups and organizations, that have been honoured by the
International
Astronomical Union by having an asteroid named after them. Calculations in
August this year by Armagh Observatory summer students Aisling Haughey and
Rebecca Clark, from St. Michael's Grammar School, Lurgan, and Guildford
County School, Surrey, have shown that the asteroid's orbit is extremely
stable and unlikely to alter significantly in less than at least a hundred
million years.
The orbit of (9929)McConnell. A number of asteroids with an Armagh connection are also
shown.
Click on the image for a larger version (391 KB).
The image is also available in higher resolution Postscript (481 KB) and
PDF (85 KB) formats suitable for printing.
For further details, contact John McFarland or Mark Bailey at Armagh
Observatory, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG; Tel: 028-3752-2928, FAX:
028-3752-7174; e-mail: jmf
star.arm.ac.uk,
and meb
star.arm.ac.uk.
See also:
Armagh Asteroids
Orbit and Ephemeris
of (9929)McConnell from JPL
Asteroid Discoveries from 1800-2000 -
very large (120MB) Quicktime file
Last Revised: 2009 November 23rd
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