Chad Trujillo
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox scientist
Chadwick A. Trujillo (born November 22, 1973) is an American astronomer, discoverer of minor planets and the co-discoverer of Eris, the most massive dwarf planet known in the Solar System.<ref name="springer" /><ref name="MPC-Eris" />
Trujillo works with computer software and has examined the orbits of the numerous trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which is the outer area of the Solar System that he specialized in. In late August 2005, it was announced that Trujillo, along with Michael Brown and David Rabinowitz, had discovered Eris in 2003.<ref name="MPC-Eris" /> As a result of the discovery of the satellite Dysnomia, Eris was the first TNO known to be more massive than Pluto.<ref name="Brown-2007"/>
CareerEdit
Trujillo attended Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois. He received his B.Sc. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995, and was a member of the Xi chapter of Tau Epsilon Phi, and received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Hawaiʻi in 2000.
Between 2000 and 2003 Trujillo was a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech. In 2003, he started working as an astronomer at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.<ref name="Nupepa" />
In 2013 Trujillo became head of the Adaptive Optics/Telescope Department at the Gemini Observatory, and continued until 2016. As of 2016, Trujillo is assistant professor at the department of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Northern Arizona University.<ref name="cv">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
He studies the Kuiper belt and the outer Solar System.
DiscoveriesEdit
| see Template:Section link |
Trujillo is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery and co-discovery of 54 numbered minor planets between 1996 and 2013, including many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) from the Kuiper belt (see table).<ref name="MPC-Discoverers" /> The last major TNO, Eris, was at first considered by him, his team, NASA, and many others to be the tenth planet,<ref name="Nupepa" /> but the International Astronomical Union assigned it to the new classificatory category of dwarf planet.
The possible dwarf planets Trujillo discovered are:
- Quaoar, co-discovered with Brown
- Sedna, co-discovered with Brown and Rabinowitz, possibly the first known inner Oort cloud object
- Orcus, co-discovered with Brown and Rabinowitz
- Eris, co-discovered with Brown and Rabinowitz – the only known TNO more massive than Pluto<ref name="Brown-2007" />
- Template:Dp, discovery also claimed by the Sierra Nevada Observatory, Spain (also see José Luis Ortiz Moreno).<ref name="MPC-Haumea" />
- Template:Dp, co-discovered with Brown and Rabinowitz in 2005, one of the first 5 official dwarf planets.<ref name="MPC-Makemake" />
List of discovered minor planetsEdit
The Minor Planet Center credits Chad Trujillo with the discovery and co-discovery of 57 minor planets during 1996–2013.<ref name="MPC-Discoverers" /> His numerous co-discoverers were: Template:Note label D. C. Jewitt, Template:Note label J. X. Luu, Template:Note label J. Chen, Template:Note label K. Berney, Template:Note label D. J. Tholen, Template:Note label M. E. Brown, Template:Note label W. Evans, Template:Note label S. S. Sheppard, Template:Note label D. L. Rabinowitz, Template:Note label A. Udalski, Template:Note label M. Kubiak, Template:Note label R. Poleski and Template:Note label Glenn Smith.
| Template:Mpl | October 9, 1996 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | October 11, 1996 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 3, 1997 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | October 12, 1996 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | October 8, 1996 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | August 28, 1997 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | April 28, 1998 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | February 20, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | February 6, 1997 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 50000 Quaoar | June 4, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 11, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | March 3, 2000 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 65489 Ceto | March 22, 2003 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| 66652 Borasisi | September 8, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 79360 Sila-Nunam | February 3, 1997 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 11, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 15, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | February 20, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | November 3, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| 90377 Sedna | November 14, 2003 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 90482 Orcus | February 17, 2004 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 8, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | October 8, 1996 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | May 17, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | July 26, 2003 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | October 3, 2004 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | December 18, 2001 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | December 20, 2001 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 10, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 7, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 136199 Eris | October 21, 2003 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 136472 Makemake | March 31, 2005 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 7, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 8, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 8, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | April 2, 2000 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | August 7, 2004 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 10, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 11, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 12, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | September 6, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | January 13, 2003 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | May 19, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | May 17, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | June 18, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| 341520 Mors-Somnus | October 14, 2007 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 7, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 385571 Otrera | October 16, 2004 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| 385695 Clete | October 8, 2005 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 7, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mpl | February 10, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| 471143 Dziewanna | March 13, 2010 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | April 21, 2010 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | March 17, 2013 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | April 28, 1998 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | March 31, 2000 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | August 26, 2002 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | February 6, 1997 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | September 6, 1999 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | March 17, 2013 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| Template:Mp | March 17, 2013 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref label |
| 541132 Leleākūhonua | October 13, 2015 | Template:LoMP Template:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label |
Satellites and uncredited discoveriesEdit
| Object | Discovery date | Type | Credit went to.. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haumea | December 28, 2004 | DP | |
| Template:Mpl | January 10, 2002 | TNO | The Palomar Observatory team with Michael Brown |
| Template:Mpl | November 5, 2012 | TNO | no official discoverers for unnumbered objects; candidate: S. S. Sheppard |
| (136108) Haumea I Hiʻiaka | January 26, 2005 | Satellite | Michael Brown and the adaptive-optics team,<ref name="usgs-dwarf-planets" /> D. L. Rabinowitz<ref name="Brown-2005" /> |
| (136108) Haumea II Namaka | July 30, 2005 | Satellite | Michael Brown and the adaptive-optics team<ref name="usgs-dwarf-planets" /> |
| (136199) Eris I Dysnomia | September 10, 2005 | Satellite | Michael Brown and the adaptive-optics team: M. A. van Dam, A. H. Bouchez, D. Le Mignant, R. D. Campbell, J. C. Y. Chin, A. Conrad, S. K. Hartman, E. M. Johansson, R. E. Lafon, D. L. Rabinowitz, P. J. Stomski Jr., D. M. Summers, and P. L. Wizinowich |
Honors and awardsEdit
The main-belt asteroid 12101 Trujillo is named for him.<ref name="springer" />
In 2006 he was named one of the Science Spectrum Magazine Trailblazer, top minority in science.<ref name=trail>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>