Paul Wiegert Explained

Minor planets discovered: 85 

see

Paul Arnold Wiegert (born 1967) is a Canadian astronomer, discoverer of minor planets and professor at the University of Western Ontario.

Wiegert studies unusual orbits of both observed objects and theorised classes of objects, for example, one early paper considers not-known-to-exist planets orbiting the nearby Alpha Centauri star system, while later papers extend that case to more general planetary stability in general binary systems (as exoplanet studies are finding increasingly frequently). This work in particular should be of interest to science fiction authors inventing universes.

Other areas of work include identifying the orbits of minor planets in the Solar System, which by virtue of their potential instability could realistically become major threats to civilization when one impacts on Earth again, as they have in the past. The Minor Planet Center credits him with the discovery of 80 numbered minor planets between 2003 and 2008. Wiegert was also involved in the discovery of 3753 Cruithne, Earth's first known Trojan asteroid.

He was also the a member of the team that identified 524522 Zoozve, as a quasi-satellite of Venus, in 2004, two years after the actual discovery of the object.^{[1] [2]}

The outer main-belt asteroid 15068 Wiegert was named in his honor.

List of discovered minor planets

	25 May 2006
	1 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	16 January 2005
	25 May 2006
	1 May 2006
	9 November 2004	 
	25 May 2006
	26 October 2006	 
	6 January 2008	 
	1 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	1 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	3 September 2005
	27 August 2005
	3 September 2005
	25 May 2006
	26 October 2006
	26 April 2004
	2 February 2006
	1 May 2006
	1 May 2006
	26 October 2006
	6 January 2008

	25 May 2006
	25 September 2003
	1 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	19 January 2007
	6 January 2008
	25 September 2003
	25 September 2003
	2 February 2006
	25 May 2006
	14 September 2007
	7 January 2006
	1 May 2006
	2 February 2006
	25 September 2003
	26 April 2004
	16 January 2005
	1 May 2006
	25 September 2003
	12 September 2004
	27 October 2006
	26 October 2006
	25 May 2006
	10 August 2005

	24 November 2005
	26 October 2006
	6 January 2008
	25 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	1 May 2006
	5 August 2005
	25 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	26 October 2006
	15 December 2004
	14 September 2007
	16 January 2005
	12 September 2004
	1 May 2006
	31 July 2005
	25 May 2006
	12 August 2004
	6 January 2008
	25 May 2006
	1 November 2005
	25 September 2003
	1 May 2006
	12 August 2004
	16 January 2005

important;
	12 September 2004
	3 February 2006	 
	25 May 2006
	6 January 2008
	25 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	6 January 2008
	1 May 2006
	25 May 2006
	1 May 2006
Co-discovery made with: A. Papadimos

External links

• Paul Wiegert's home page at the University of Western Ontario

Notes and References

1. Web site: Discovery of the first quasi-satellite of Venus . . 17 August 2004 . 29 January 2024 .
2. Asteroid 2002 VE68, a quasi-satellite of Venus . 2004MNRAS.351L..63M . Mikkola . S. . Brasser . R. . Wiegert . P. . Innanen . K. . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 2004 . 351 . 3 . L63–L65 . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07994.x .