Eleanor Helin
| Eleanor F. Helin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eleanor Frances Helin November 19, 1932 |
| Died | January 25, 2009 (aged 76) |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | Caltech · JPL |
| Alma mater | Occidental College |
| Known for | discoverer of minor planets |
Eleanor Key Francis "Glo" Helin (née Francis) (November 19, 1932 – January 25, 2009) was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She retired in 2002.
Helin is a prolific discoverer of minor planets (see list below) also discovered several comets, including periodic comets 111P/Helin–Roman–Crockett, 117P/Helin–Roman–Alu and 132P/Helin–Roman–Alu. She is credited as the discoverer of the object now known as both asteroid 4015 Wilson–Harrington and comet 107P/Wilson–Harrington. Although Wilson and Harrington preceded her by some decades, their observations did not establish an orbit for the object, while her rediscovery did.
Asteroid 3267 Glo is named for her. ("Glo" was Helin's nickname.)
Helin was active in planetary science and astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for over three decades. In the early 1970s, she initiated the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey (PCAS) from Palomar Observatory. This program is responsible for the discovery of thousands of asteroids of all types including more than 200 in high inclination orbits, other asteroids in rare and unique types of orbits, 20 comets, and approximately 30 percent of the near-Earth asteroids discovered worldwide.
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