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|+ Minor planets discovered: 713 – March 5, 2021) was an American astronomer best known for the co-discovery of near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis (formerly known as ) along with David J. Tholen and Fabrizio Bernardi of the University of Hawaiʻi.

and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1966, he became a member of Memphis Astronomical Society and received a master's degree in Scientific Instrumentation from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He worked as a senior engineer in the Imaging Technology Laboratory of the University of Arizona and as an instrumentalist at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Death

Tucker died on March 5, 2021, due to pancreatic cancer.

Recognition

In 2002, he was one of five researchers awarded a "Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grant", by the Planetary Society.

The main-belt asteroid 10914 Tucker, discovered by Paul Comba in 1997, was named in his honor.

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Further reading

  • Aguirre, Edwin L. 1999. Sentinel of the Sky - Armed with a Modest Telescope and CCD Camera, Tucson Amateur Roy A Tucker Joins the Ranks of Professional Astronomers Who Have Discovered Near-Earth Objects. Sky and Telescope. 97, no. 3: 76.
  • CCD Precision Photometry Workshop, Eric R. Craine, Roy A. Tucker, Jeannette V. Barnes. CCD Precision Photometry Workshop: Proceedings of a Meeting Held at San Diego, California, United States, 6-7, June 1998. Astronomical Society of the Pacific conference series, v. 189. San Francisco, California: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1999.
  • Goodricke-Pigott Observatory
  • Discovering My First Asteroid "Don't count your asteroids till they are numbered" - Roy A. Tucker First person narrative.