Hal A. Weaver | |
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.jpg) Hal Weaver discusses486958 Arrokoth | |
| Born | Harold Anthony Weaver 1953 (age 71–72) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Duke University Johns Hopkins University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
Harold Anthony "Hal" Weaver, Jr. (born 1953) is an American astronomer, known for his research into the composition of solar system bodies includingcomets andKuiper belt objects.
Weaver attendedDuke University as an undergraduate, and obtained his PhD fromJohns Hopkins, where he researched thespectra of comets using data from theInternational Ultraviolet Explorerspace telescope.[1]
Since 2002 Weaver has worked at theApplied Physics Laboratory. He is co-investigator on theAlice ultravioletimaging spectrometer on board theRosetta mission to comet67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko,[2] In the 1990s and 2000s he worked on theFar Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer space telescope, conducted research into comets using theHubble Space Telescope,[3] and co-led the Pluto Companion Search Team that in 2005 discovered the second and third moons of Pluto (Nix andHydra) using the Hubble Space Telescope.[3]
His involvement in theNew Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond meant that Weaver was also co-discoverer ofKerberos andStyx in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Weaver has frequently appeared with New Horizons principal investigatorAlan Stern at press briefings announcing the mission's findings following the fly-bys of Pluto and486958 Arrokoth, and has made media appearances to discuss the mission.[4]
TheMars-crossingasteroid5720 Halweaver is named after him.[2][3]
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