Frederick Pilcher (born 1939) is a retired physics professor and a prolificphotometrist ofminor planets at his private Organ Mesa Observatory (G50) in New Mexico, United States.[1][2]
A graduate ofUniversity of Kansas, Frederick Pilcher has been a long-time associate professor in the physics department atIllinois College inJacksonville, Illinois, during 1962–2005.[3] Since 1968 he has been observing and writing about asteroids and was a charter member of theMinor Planets Section of theAssociation of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) when founded in 1973. Later on, he assumed the post of Section Recorder and Coordinator at ALPO.[4]
After his retirement he moved to New Mexico, United States, and established his Organ Mesa Observatory (G50) in 2007. The observatory is located approximately 5 miles southeast ofLas Cruces, New Mexico, and is dedicated tophotometric research on asteroids. At the observatory, he has since obtained more than 1100 rotationallightcurves.[1] Pilcher is a member of theAstronomical Society of Las Cruces, which is known for its research on small Solar System body, and its prolific members such asClyde Tombaugh andBerton L. Stevens, who discovered more than 50minor planets at his Desert Moon Observatory (448) in La Cruces.[5]
The main-belt asteroid1990 Pilcher, discovered byKarl Reinmuth in 1954, was named in his honor.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6833).[6]
FREDERICK PILCHER, Associate Professor of Physics (1962, 2005) B.S., Washburn, University; M.S., University of Kansas
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