Alan Hale (Astronomer)
| Alan Hale | |
|---|---|
Astronomer Alan Hale at the Cosmic Carnival, Sept. 2005
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| Born |
March 7, 1958 Tachikawa, Japan |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | |
| Alma mater | United States Naval Academy |
| Known for | Co-discovery of Comet Hale–Bopp |
Alan Hale (born March 7, 1958) is an American professional astronomer, best known for his co-discovery of Comet Hale–Bopp along with amateur astronomer Thomas Bopp.
Hale specializes in the study of sun-like stars and the search for extra-solar planetary systems, and has side interests in the fields of comets and near-Earth asteroids. He has been an active astronomer most of his life and currently serves as the president of the Earthrise Institute, which he founded, and which has as its mission the use of astronomy as a tool for breaking down international and intercultural barriers.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid in Hale's honor, 4151 Alanhale, in recognition of his numerous comet observations.
Hale was born in 1958 in Tachikawa, Japan, where his father was serving in the United States Air Force. Four months later his father was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base outside Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Hale was raised in Alamogordo where his father retired from the Air Force and worked in civil service. In 2013 Hale said, "I refuse to say that 'I grew up there' because anyone who know me knows that I really haven’t grown up yet." He credits several factors for inspiring his interest in science and astronomy in the 1960s: the clear night skies in Alamogordo, library books on astronomy his father gave him in the first grade, the US Space program, and the original Star Trek TV series. Hale also said that as a child he was interested in other sciences as well, and he "went through a dinosaur phase when I was in 2nd grade. I knew them all. Drove my parent nuts."
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