Matthew J. Holman (born 1967) is aSmithsonianastrophysicist and lecturer atHarvard University. Holman studied atMIT, where he received hisbachelor's degree inmathematics in 1989 and hisPhD inplanetary science in 1994. He was awarded theNewcomb Cleveland Prize in 1998.^[1]

From 25 January 2015 to 9 February 2021, he held the position of an interim director of IAU'sMinor Planet Center (MPC), after former directorTimothy B. Spahr had stepped down. Holman was followed by Matthew Payne as new director of the MPC.^[2][3]

He was a Salina Central High School (Kansas) classmate and fellow debate team member of Joe Miller, Alaskan Senate candidate. The main-belt asteroid3666 Holman was named in his honour in 1999 (M.P.C. 34619).^[1][4]

For the period between 1999 and 2000, Holman is credited by the MPC with the discovery and co-discovery of severaltrans-Neptunian objects such as(44594) 1999 OX3 and(60621) 2000 FE8(see table) and has been an active observer ofcentaurs.^[1][5]

He was also part of a team that discovered numerousirregular moons:^[6]

• Discoveredmoons of Neptune (full list):
  • Halimede(Neptune IX) – in 2002 withJ.J. Kavelaars,T. Grav, W. Fraser andD. Milisavljevic(IAUC 8047)
  • Sao(Neptune XI) – in 2002 with J.J. Kavelaars, T. Grav, W. Fraser, D. Milisavljevic(IAUC 8047)
  • Laomedeia(Neptune XII) – in 2002, with J.J. Kavelaars, T. Grav, W. Fraser, D. Milisavljevic(IAUC 8047)
  • Neso(Neptune XIII) – in 2002, withB. Gladman et al.(IAUC 8213)
• Discoveredmoons of Uranus (full list):
  • Prospero(Uranus XVIII) – in 1999, with J.J. Kavelaars, B. Gladman,J.-M. Petit,H. Scholl(IAUC 7248)
  • Setebos(Uranus XIX) – in 1999, with J.J. Kavelaars, B. Gladman, J.-M. Petit, H. Scholl(IAUC 7230)
  • Stephano(Uranus XX) – in 1999, with B. Gladman, J.J. Kavelaars, J.-M. Petit, H. Scholl(IAUC 7230)
  • Trinculo(Uranus XXI) – in 2001, with J.J. Kavelaars, D. Milisavljevic(IAUC 7980)
  • Francisco(Uranus XXII) – in 2001, with J.J. Kavelaars, D. Milisavljevic, T. Grav(IAUC 8216, IAUC 7980)
  • Ferdinand(Uranus XXIV) – in 2001, with D. Milisavljevic, J.J. Kavelaars, T. Grav(IAUC 8213)
• Discoveredmoons of Saturn (full list):
  • Albiorix(Saturn XXVI) – in 2000, withT.B. Spahr(IAUC 7545)

• List of minor planet discoverers

• Matthew J. Holman, homepage atCenter for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
• The Minor Planet Center Status Report Matthew Holman,8 November 2015

• 1967 births
• 20th-century American astronomers
• Discoverers of moons
• Discoverers of minor planets
• Discoveries by Matthew J. Holman
• Harvard University faculty
• Living people
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni
• Planetary scientists
• Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics people
• 21st-century American astronomers

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