Minor Planets named after Hans Betlem and Peter Jenniskens
Last updated: december 2, 2002
Hans Betlem Peter Jenniskens
Asteroids 42981 Jenniskens and 42924 Betlem: Asteroids named in honour of two Dutch meteor observers
Dear Hans and Peter,
It is my pleasure to announce you both the following news: According to my arrangements with the discoverer Petr Pravec from Ondrejov Observatory two minor planets were named after you. Originally, this idea arose during dinner at the ACM in Berlin when I spoke with Peter Jenniskens. (During this occasion I realized, that Peter is the second very very suitable candidate).
I think that it can symbolize our very fruitful five year cooperation in Leonids. I never forget that Peter was the man who invited me to participate in expedition to China in 1998 with my FE all-sky photographic cameras. It was at Skalnate Pleso Observatory in High Tatras mountains, where I just installed new FE camera during conference Meteoroids 1998. By the way, according my personal feeling, the 1998 fireball show was the best from all five events I could observe.
I very appreciate your big organizational and scientific effort during this fantastic period. I am very happy that I (and also Jiri and other people from Ondrejov including my wife Anina) could be involved in these activities during all important Leonid events and that we obtained so much fantastic results and discoveries.
Thank you very much both of you.
All the best,
Pavel
Hello Pavel, here are the citations about two new minor planets published in MPC 47170 from 20.11.2002. Regards, Petr Pravec (42924) Betlem = 1999 TJ2 Discovered 1999 Oct. 2 at Ondrejov. Hans Betlem (b. 1954), Dutch amateur meteor astronomer and founder of the Dutch Meteor Society, is well known for his photographic observations of major meteor streams and has published many precise trajectories and orbits of meteors. He has organized several successful Leonid expeditions.
Asteroid 42924 Betlem High-Accuracy Ephemeris
(42981) Jenniskens = 1999 TY224 Discovered 1999 Oct. 2 at Ondrejov. Peter Jenniskens (b. 1962), meteor astronomer of NASA Ames, organized several successful airborne missions (Leonid multi-instrument aircraft campaigns) to observe the Leonid returns from 1998 to 2002. He has substantially improved our knowledge of the behavior of meteor streams.
Asteroid 42981 Jenniskens High-Accuracy Ephemeris
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This page was last modified on November 28, 2002 by Hans Betlem and Casper ter Kuile |