Marco Micheli (born 1983) is an Italian astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets. He is a researcher at the Centre for Earth Observation of ESA's Space Situational Awareness Programme in Italy.[1]

Marco Micheli
Born1983 (1983)
NationalityItalian
Scientific career
Fieldsastronomy, planetary science
InstitutionsESA Centre for Earth Observation
Pan-STARRS

Career

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Micheli was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1983. He graduated in 2007 in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Pisa with a thesis on the YORP effect, and moved for his doctorate to the University of Hawaii where he studied Near-Earth objects and how their streams cause meteor showers.[2] He then moved to ESA's Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati, Italy.[3]

As a member of the Pan-STARRS astronomical survey team, he holds the record of new asteroids detected in a single night since 29 January 2011.[4] According to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) he discovered between 2005 and 2010 twelve asteroids, partly in collaboration with Wladimiro Marinello and Gianpaolo Pizzetti (see list).

In June 2018 he published a study on 1I/ʻOumuamua, the first Interstellar object, where the discovery of a non-gravitational acceleration acting on the object is reported. This suggests that the celestial body may be a comet, although it has not shown any noticeable activity in the visual spectrum during transit in the Solar System.[5][6]

List of discovered minor planets

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177853 Lumezzane 5 August 2005 list[A]
229836 Wladimarinello 28 August 2009 list[A]
233559 Pizzetti 4 August 2007 list[B]
266710 Pedrettiadriana[7] 31 August 2009 list
(284994) 2010 KD60 20 May 2010 list
352148 Tarcisiozani 4 August 2007 list[A]
(379472) 2010 DT40 16 February 2010 list
(406983) 2009 RE5 14 September 2009 list
(407261) 2010 BQ3 21 January 2010 list
(436214) 2009 XR22 13 December 2009 list
(485044) 2010 AA78 15 January 2010 list
(485914) 2012 GZ15 13 December 2010 list
Co-discovery made with:
A G. P. Pizzetti and B W. Marinello

Awards and honors

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Asteroid 10277 Micheli, discovered by American astronomer Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in 1981, was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by the MPC on 13 April 2017 (M.P.C. 103974).[1][8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "10277 Micheli (1981 EC27)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  2. ^ Micheli, Marco (2013). Exploring connections between near-Earth objects and meteoroid streams (PhD). University of Hawaiʻi. ProQuest 1512644675.
  3. ^ Micheli, Marco (22 June 2020). "La sfida di impedire che gli asteroidi colpiscano la Terra" (in Italian). Giornale di Brescia. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  4. ^ Cipolloni, Daniela (1 March 2011). "Record: 19 asteroidi scoperti in una notte" (in Italian). INAF. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  5. ^ Micheli, Marco (27 June 2018). "Non-gravitational acceleration in the trajectory of 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua)". Nature. 559 (7713): 223–226. Bibcode:2018Natur.559..223M. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0254-4. PMID 29950718. S2CID 49477508.
  6. ^ "Delusione! 'Oumuamua è "solo" una cometa". 27 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  7. ^ Ramponi, Loris (4 January 2023). "Un bresciano scopre un asteroide e lo regala alla madre per dirle grazie" (in Italian). Giornale di Brescia.
  8. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
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