What
made you enter the field of astronomy when you were 51 ?
What
What
Sky ’ s Up type of astronomy work do you do , and how have those tasks evolved over the decades ?
is your favorite part of being an astronomer ?
How did it feel when you discovered your first comet ? Did the excitement of discovering a comet fade as you found more ?
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What
made you enter the field of astronomy when you were 51 ?
I entered the field of astronomy at age 51 for several reasons . My children were grown and had left home to do their own thing . They no longer needed my attention . I felt that I needed something of consequence to do and was somewhat familiar with my husband ’ s work in searching for near Earth asteroids . I could try my hand at some of it and feel my way along .
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What
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What
Sky ’ s Up type of astronomy work do you do , and how have those tasks evolved over the decades ?
My work in astronomy studies involved studying both glass plates and films taken at the telescope searching for asteroids . When I found something of interest , I measured its position in the sky and reported that to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge , Mass . Over many decades , the use of film and glass plates has been discontinued . Today ’ s observing uses computers and technology to replace much that astronomers once did .
is your favorite part of being an astronomer ?
My favorite part of being an astronomer was gazing into space , either by telescope or in a dome open to the sky , and wondering about the enormity of the universe I saw there . We have a fabulous sky !
IMAGE CREDIT : Gene Shoemaker
Carolyn Shoemaker stands next to the 18-inch Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory .
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How did it feel when you discovered your first comet ? Did the excitement of discovering a comet fade as you found more ?
When I discovered my first comet I was terribly excited , and that feeling has never left me . I thought that I would never really be able to discover a comet , and that was because I had seen the comets on the films that other people had discovered , and it looked so difficult that I wasn ’ t sure I ’ d ever see anything like that . But I did . When I did I was so terribly excited , I knew that that was what I wanted to concentrate on especially .
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