Linda J. Spilker
From AstronomyOutreach network
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| - | [[File:Spilker roberts.jpg|right|thumb|450px| Dr. Linda Spilker with [[Scott W. Roberts]] at the [Jet Propulsion Laboratory]. | + | [[File:Spilker roberts.jpg|right|thumb|450px| Dr. Linda Spilker with [[Scott W. Roberts]] at the [Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]. |
'''Linda J. Spilker Ph.D. (b. April 26, 1955)''' (born 1948) is the founder of the [[National Sharing the Sky Foundation]] that is devoted to increasing awareness of astronomy through public outreach. Levy is best known for his comet discoveries and for his many books and articles on astronomers and astronomy. | '''Linda J. Spilker Ph.D. (b. April 26, 1955)''' (born 1948) is the founder of the [[National Sharing the Sky Foundation]] that is devoted to increasing awareness of astronomy through public outreach. Levy is best known for his comet discoveries and for his many books and articles on astronomers and astronomy. | ||
Revision as of 23:49, 21 December 2017
Linda J. Spilker Ph.D. (b. April 26, 1955) (born 1948) is the founder of the National Sharing the Sky Foundation that is devoted to increasing awareness of astronomy through public outreach. Levy is best known for his comet discoveries and for his many books and articles on astronomers and astronomy.
Contents |
Biography
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA as Linda Joyce Bies
Levy was born in Montreal, Canada on May 22, 1948. He developed an interest in astronomy at an early age. However, he pursued and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature. In 1967 he was nearly expelled from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Montreal Centre after a disagreement with some members of its administration. "Levy will never amount to anything," one senior official of the RASC remarked in 1968. Years later, Levy began a correspondence with Isabel Williamson, the person most responsible for his near-ouster. These letters turned into visits, the presentation of the National Service Award to Miss Williamson, and the naming of the Montreal Centre's Observatory after her.
Levy went on to discover 23 comets (9 of them were visual discoveries), either independently or with Gene and Carolyn S. Shoemaker. He has written 34 books, mostly on astronomical subjects, such as The Quest for Comets, the definitive biography of Pluto-discoverer Clyde Tombaugh in 2006, and his tribute to Gene Shoemaker in Shoemaker by Levy. He has provided periodic articles for Sky & Telescope magazine, as well as Parade Magazine, Sky News and, most recently, Astronomy Magazine.
Periodic comets that Levy co-discovered include 118P/Shoemaker-Levy, 129P/Shoemaker-Levy, 135P/Shoemaker-Levy, 137P/Shoemaker-Levy, 138P/Shoemaker-Levy, 145P/Shoemaker-Levy, and 181P/Shoemaker-Levy. In addition, Levy is the sole discoverer of two periodic comets P/1991 L3 and P/2006T1. He is also the first to discover comets visually, photographically , and electronically.
On February 28, 2010, Levy was awarded a Ph. D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for his successful completion of his thesis "The Sky in Early Modern English Literature: A Study of Allusions to Celestial Events in Elizabethan and Jacobean Writing, 1572-1620."
David and Wendee live in Vail, Arizona, home of the Jarnac Observatory.
Outreach
David Levy is a prolific speaker, writer, and public astronomy outreach enthusiast, where he and his wife Wendee Levy are often involved in showing the public the night sky. Levy is available for personal appearances and lectures.
Awards
•NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2013) •NASA Group Achievement Award Cassini Solstice Pre-Integration Team (2011) •NASA Group Achievement Awards for Cassini CIRS Team, Cassini Outreach, Cassini Ring Working Group, Cassini Saturn Working Group, Cassini Magnetospheres Working Group, Cassini Project Management (2009) •Distinguished Alumna Award from California State University, Fullerton (2005) •NASA Group Achievement Award for Cassini Jupiter Flyby (2000) •Hall of Fame Award, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (1999) •Two NASA Group Achievement Awards, Cassini CIRS and Cassini Public Outreach (1998) •ESA Award for contribution to Huygens Probe (1997) •Distinguished Alumna Award for Natural & Social Sciences from California State University at Los Angeles (1996) •NASA Exceptional Service Medal, Voyager IRIS Neptune Encounter (1990) •NASA Scientific Achievement Award (1982) •Seven (7) NASA Group Achievement Awards for Voyager Mission (1982 - 1989) •California State University Fullerton Dept. of Physics Faculty Prize for Scholarship (1977)