Michael E. Brown

Trans-Neptunian objects discovered: 7

(50000) Quaoar	June 4, 2002	with C. A. Trujillo
(84719) 2002 VR128	November 3, 2002	with C. A. Trujillo
(90377) Sedna	November 14, 2003	with C. A. Trujillo and D. Rabinowitz
(90482) Orcus	February 17, 2004	with C. A. Trujillo
2003 EL61	December 28 2004	with C. A. Trujillo and D. Rabinowitz
2003 UB313	January 8 2005	with C. A. Trujillo and D. Rabinowitz
2005 FY9	March 31 2005	with C. A. Trujillo and D. Rabinowitz

Dr. Michael (Mike) E. Brown has been an associate professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) since 2002. He was previously an assistant professor at Caltech from 1997–2002.

Brown earned his B.A. in physics from Princeton University in 1987. He did his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley where he earned an M.Sc. in astronomy in 1990 and a Ph.D in astronomy in 1994.

All of his co-discoveries are trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Particularly notable are 2003 UB313, the first TNO discovered that is larger than Pluto, and potentially the tenth planet in the Solar System; 90377 Sedna, a planetoid thought to be the first observed body belonging to the inner Öpik-Oort cloud; and 90482 Orcus, possibly the third largest Kuiper Belt object after 2003 UB₃₁₃ and Pluto.

Brown and his team also had been observing 2003 EL61 for approximately six months before its announced discovery by José Luis Ortiz Moreno and colleagues from the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain. Brown originally indicated his support for Ortiz's team being given credit for the discovery of 2003 EL₆₁. However, further investigation showed that a website containing archives of where Brown's team's telescopes had been pointed while tracking 2003 EL₆₁ had been accessed eight times in the three days preceding Ortiz's announcement, by computers with IP addresses that were traced back to the website of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC, Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia), where Ortiz works, and to e-mail messages sent by Ortiz and his student. This was a week after Brown had published an abstract for an upcoming conference talk at which he had planned to announce the discovery of 2003 EL₆₁; the abstract referred to 2003 EL₆₁ by a code which was the same code used in the online telescope logs; and the Andalusia computers had accessed the logs containing that code directly, as would be the case after an Internet search, without going through the home page or other pages of the archives. When asked about this online activity, Ortiz responded with an email to Brown that ignored the question, and instead suggested Brown was at fault for "hiding objects" and that "the only reason why we are now exchanging e-mail is because you did not report your object." As Brown has pointed out, such an accusation contradicts the accepted scientific practice of analyzing one's research until one is satisfied that it is accurate, then submitting it to peer review prior to any public announcement. The director of the CSIC has also distanced himself from Ortiz, insisting that its researchers have "sole responsibility" for themselves.

Although the matter has not yet been settled as of September 2005, Brown has petitioned the International Astronomical Union to credit his team rather than Ortiz as the discoverers of 2003 EL₆₁. At least one authority within the IAU has suggested that Brown's team will indeed end up being recognized as the discoverers.

External links and references

• Brown's homepage
• One Find, Two Astronomers: An Ethical Brawl, Dennis Overbye, The New York Times, September 13, 2005