Keith S. Noll
American planetary scientist

Keith S. Noll
Born1958[2]
Alma materStony Brook University
University of Illinois system[3]
AwardsAmerican Astronomical Society Education Prize (2007)[1]
Scientific career
InstitutionsSpace Telescope Science Institute
Goddard Space Flight Center

Keith S. Noll (born 1958) is an American planetary scientist.

Biography

Noll works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a planetary astronomer.[4] Before coming go GSFC, he worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute for 20 years, where he founded the Hubble Heritage Project in 1998.[5][1][6] He became chief of GSFC's Planetary Systems Laboratory in 2011, a position he held for six years.[5][3][7] Since 2015, he is the Lucy mission’s project scientist.[8][7]

His research interests include the study of small bodies in the Solar System, the atmospheres of giant planets, brown dwarfs, Saturn's moon Titan, and icy satellites.[5] He has focused on the study of trans-Neptunian objects, particularly with the Hubble Space Telescope.[3] By about 2020, he was responsible for discovering more than 75% of all then-known binary asteroids in the Kuiper belt.[5][a] Noll is interested in identifying opportunities for studying material from the early Solar System that is accessible to Earth-based missions like Lucy.[5]

In 1993, Noll became a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).[5][10] Since 2007, he is a member of the Working Group Small Body Nomenclature, the section of the IAU that is responsible for naming minor planets.[5] He became its vice-chair in 2023.[11][10]

In 2006, 6386 Keithnoll, a Mars-crossing asteroid, was named in his honor.[12]

Notable discoveries

Noll is credited with co-discovering the binary nature of the trans-Neptunian object 58534 Logos[13] and of 16974 Iphthime, the third known binary Jupiter trojan.[5] He also co-discovered the minor-planet moons Hiisi,[14][15] Ilmarë,[16] Thorondor,[17] Echidna,[18] Actaea[19] and G!o'e !Hu,[20] as well as the moon of 38628 Huya.[21]

Notes

  1. ^ The source for this was published between 2019 and 2021. This may no longer be true as of 2025; compare more recently published studies like Porter et al. 2024.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Education Prize". aas.org. American Astronomical Society. Retrieved September 27, 2025. For his creation and leadership of the Hubble Heritage Project of the Space Telescope Science Institute
  2. ^ "Noll, Keith S." National Library of Israel. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Noll, Keith S. (July 27, 2023). "Discovery 30th Anniversary Oral History Project - Edited Oral History Transcript" (PDF). nasa.gov (Interview). Interviewed by Johnson, Sandra. NASA. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  4. ^ Jones, Nancy Neal (June 16, 2021). "Newly Named Asteroids Honor Pioneering Astronauts Who Have Helped Expand Our Horizons Beyond Earth". scitechdaily.com. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Keith S Noll - Sciences and Exploration Directorate". science.gsfc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on July 31, 2025. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  6. ^ NASA Hubble Mission Team (October 3, 2003). "Heritage Project Celebrates Five Years of Harvesting the Best Images from Hubble Space Telescope". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Keith Noll - LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved September 27, 2025. (self-published)
  8. ^ Steigerwald, William (January 4, 2017). "NASA Selects Mission to Study Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids". nasa.gov. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  9. ^ Porter, Simon B.; Benecchi, Susan D.; Verbiscer, Anne J.; Grundy, W. M.; et al. (June 14, 2024). "Detection of Close Kuiper Belt Binaries with HST WFC3". The Planetary Science Journal. 5 (6): 143. arXiv:2406.02808. Bibcode:2024PSJ.....5..143P. doi:10.3847/PSJ/ad3f19.
  10. ^ a b "Member information: Dr. Keith S. Noll". International Astronomical Union. Archived from the original on September 27, 2025.
  11. ^ IAU: WG Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN), International Astronomical Union, retrieved September 27, 2025
  12. ^ "New Names of Minor Planets" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (57950). International Astronomical Union. November 9, 2006.
  13. ^ "IAUC 7824: 2002 BM26; 1997 CQ29; 2002au". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. International Astronomical Union. February 11, 2002. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  14. ^ Benecchi, S. D.; Noll, K. S.; Grundy, W. M.; Levison, H. F. (June 2010). "(47171) 1999 TC36, A transneptunian Triple". Icarus. 207 (2): 978–991. arXiv:0912.2074. Bibcode:2010Icar..207..978B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.12.017. S2CID 118430134.
  15. ^ "New Names of Minor Planets" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (106502). International Astronomical Union. (47171) Lempo = 1999 TC36. October 5, 2017.
  16. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (October 21, 2021). "(174567) Varda and IImare". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  17. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (September 20, 2014). "(385446) Manwe and Thorondor". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  18. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (January 31, 2015). "(42355) Typhon and Echidna". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  19. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (May 27, 2019). "(120347) Salacia and Actaea". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  20. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (October 9, 2021). "(229762) G!kun||'homdima and G!o'e !Hu". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  21. ^ Johnston, Wm. Robert (February 22, 2025). "(38628) Huya". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
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