Carolyn Shoemaker has died

> Carolyn Shoemaker started her astronomical career in 1980, at age 51, searching for Earth-crossing asteroids and comets at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, and the Palomar Observatory, San Diego, California.

Was she a late bloomer! I am about the age that she was when starting her astronomy career. This gives me immense hope that an entirely new (and possibly successful) chapter of my life can be started now.

There's apparently a conflict at Wikipedia over confirmation of Caroline Shoemaker's death. The now-reverted source is a French-language blog, claiming she'd died on the 13 of August: https://blogs.futura-sciences.com/feldmann/2021/08/15/lastro...

I'm not finding another source confirming this presently.

Shoemaker is probably best known as one of the co-discoverers of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with Jupiter in July, 1994. It was the first time in modern astronomical history any such impact, let alone one of this magnitude was both predicted and observed.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gbsqWozEBBw

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CiLNxZbpP20

Damn, I never heard of her, I remember reading that Gene Shoemaker died in a car crash in Australia, but I think the article I read didn't even mention that his fellow astronomer and wife was badly injured in the same accident.

In 1994, I got to see Shoemaker-Levy’s impact with Jupiter through the Lick 36” Refractor at Lick Observatory. Jupiter had a visible dark spot from one of the fragments, and another piece over it, speeding ever so slowly toward its doom. I’ll never forget the sight.

Amazing life. Thanks for posting.

She is my aunt. She did pass away.