Donald R. Davis (astronomer)

Donald R. Davis is an American astronomer specializing in the evolution of the Solar System. With William K. Hartmann, he was responsible for proposing a theory in 1975 of the creation of earth's moon by a catastrophic collision. He is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the co-discovery of the trans-Neptunian object in 1999.

In 2009, he was Academic Director at the Summer Science Program. A few months later, Davis arranged for the naming of an asteroid as 223877 Kutler, after Brendan Kutler—a student, whom he had worked with in that program—died in his sleep.

The main-belt asteroid 3638 Davis is named in his honor.

References

• Hartmann, W. K., & Davis, D. R. (1975). Satellite-sized planetesimals and lunar origin. Icarus, 24(4), 504–515.
• Minor Planet Center: Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (45001)-(50000)
• Jewitt, D., & Luu, J. (2000). Physical nature of the Kuiper Belt. In Protostars and Planets IV (Vol. 1, pp. 1201–1229). University of Arizona Press.
• Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Science & Business Media.
• Summer Science Program: Alumni Tribute to Brendan Kutler