David Rankin (astronomer)

David O. Rankin[2]
David Rankin, with the telescope at Mt. Lemmon Survey
Born1984[3]
Alma materUniversity of Utah[4]
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy · Planetary defense
InstitutionsCatalina Sky Survey[1]
Websiterankinstudio.com
Signature
Minor planets discovered: 4[5]
see § List of discovered minor planets

David O. Rankin (born 1984) is an American astronomer, fossil hunter, and discoverer of asteroids. He works as an R&D Operations Engineer at the Catalina Sky Survey. Among the minor planets he has discovered is 2022 WJ1, a small meteoroid that impacted the Earth on 19 November 2022 near Toronto, Ontario.

Biography

Rankin was born in 1984.[3] He grew up in Big Water, Utah, United States.[6] He holds a B.S. in Natural resource management from the University of Utah with minors in Earth science and Middle Eastern studies.[4]

From a young age, he has been interested in fossil hunting. Rankin has discovered several important specimens from the Tropic Shale:[2] In 1998, at the age of 14, he found a well preserved specimen of Brachauchenius lucasi.[7][8][9] In 2001, he discovered the fossil of a new species of plesiosaur,[10] which was named Eopolycotylus rankini after him.[2][11] Two years later, he co-discovered Nothronychus graffami, a new species of therizinosaur.[7][12] In 2017, he found a new site of 220,000-year-old pleistocene deposits at lower Wahweap Creek, which bears some of the oldest mammoth fossils in the Colorado Plateau.[13][14]

Rankin has been a park ranger and a videography intern at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.[7][15] He is a self-described "flash flood chaser" and has worked on improving forecasting for flash floods in southern Utah.[16][17][18] Rankin is an ambassador for the telescope manufacturer Explore Scientific.[19][20]

Rankin was raised a Mormon, but he is no longer associated with the church.[10] He is married and has two sons.[21]

Astronomical career

Rankin began to observe asteroids as an amateur astronomer in 2015.[22] Since February 2016, he reported observations to the Minor Planet Center from his home observatory in Big Water (observatory code V03).[23] Later that year, he discovered his first Near Earth asteroid, provisionally designated 2016 XD1, which he named Cecily after his wife.[21][22] In 2019, he moved to Tucson where he was hired by the Catalina Sky Survey, becoming a professional astronomer.[22][24]

In 2025, Rankin became one of the initial members of the Minor Planet Center's (MPC's) newly formed Singleton and archival observations committee, to help the MPC develop policy recommendations for the evaluation and publication of archival data.[25][26]

List of discovered minor planets and comets

Orbit of comet 501P/Rankin
Life reconstruction of Eopolycotylus rankini

As of February 2026, Rankin is personally credited with discovering four minor planets (all from Big Water)[5] and 15 comets (including one from Saguaro Observatory at his home in Tucson):[27][28]

605911 Cecily 3 December 2016 list
(771739) 2016 QS82 31 August 2016 list
(788573) 2017 BO207 30 December 2016 list
(771914) 2016 YD36 29 December 2016 list
501P/Rankin 15 June 2024 list
C/2020 B3 (Rankin) 29 January 2020 list
C/2020 K6 (Rankin) 26 May 2020 list
C/2020 R6 (Rankin) 15 September 2020 list
C/2020 U3 (Rankin) 22 October 2020 list
P/2020 V4 (Rankin) 15 November 2020 list
P/2020 W1 (Rankin) 16 November 2020 list
C/2021 C1 (Rankin) 11 February 2021 list
P/2021 R5 (Rankin) 9 September 2021 list
C/2021 V1 (Rankin) 5 November 2021 list
P/2022 W1 (Rankin) 18 November 2022 list
P/2024 S2 (Rankin) 30 September 2024 list
P/2024 T1 (Rankin) 2 October 2024 list
P/2024 T2 (Rankin) 4 October 2024 list
C/2025 V2 (Rankin) 2 November 2025 list

In addition, he has discovered numerous Near Earth objects at Catalina,[10][29] including the small impactor 2022 WJ1, the 6th asteroid in history to be discovered before it collided with the Earth.[30][31][a]

Awards and honors

Eopolycotylus rankini, a species of plesiosaur, is named after him.[2][11] In 2019, the main belt asteroid 62701 Davidrankin was named in his honor.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ The five previously predicted impactors are: 2008 TC3, 2014 AA, 2018 LA, 2019 MO, and 2022 EB5.

References

  1. ^ "David Rankin – R&D Operations Engineer". The University of Arizona. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Archived from the original on 11 February 2026. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d L. B. Albright; D. D. Gillette; A. L. Titus (2007). "Plesiosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah, part 2: Polycotylidae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 41–58. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[41:PFTUCC]2.0.CO;2. [named] for David O. Rankin of Big Water, Utah, discoverer of this and several other important specimiens from the Tropic Shale
  3. ^ a b c "New Names of Minor Planets" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (112432). Minor Planet Center: 4. 6 April 2019. David Rankin (b. 1984) is an American amateur astronomer. He provides follow-up observations of Near Earth asteroids to the Minor Planet Center.
  4. ^ a b David Rankin. "Education". rankinstudio.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 22 October 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  6. ^ Marsha Holland (26 October 2018), "Scott Richardson, Field Paleontologist & Technician", Life work, discoveries and work on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Cannonville: Southern Utah University, p. 9, retrieved 18 February 2026, David Rankin is Big Water born and raised. Museum of Northern Arizona took him under their wing. He was still 15 or 16, still rebellious then. They brought him to Flagstaff to go to the Arts and Leadership Academy. (Download link)
  7. ^ a b c Andrew Hoekstraur (August 2021). "A Tale of Discoveries at Big Water, Utah" (PDF). Delvings Newsletter. 74 (8). Delvers Gem & Mineral Society: 4–5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2026.
  8. ^ Kerry Fehr-Snyder (28 July 2000). "Fossils of seagoing dinosaur show creatures roamed area 93 million years ago". The Arizona Republic. edition.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2001.
  9. ^ L. Barry Albright III; David D. Gillette; Alan L. Titus (2007). "Plesiosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah, part 1: New records of the pliosaur Brachauchenius lucasi". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 31–40. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[31:PFTUCC]2.0.CO;2.
  10. ^ a b c Levi Christiansen (18 December 2025). "From a Remote Observatory, He's Defending Our Planet. Get a Glimpse Inside the Life of a Doomsday Asteroid Hunter". smithsonianmag.com. Supercluster. Archived from the original on 24 December 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  11. ^ a b David Rankin. "Eopolycotylus rankini, A New Species of Plesiosaur". rankinstudio.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2024.
  12. ^ David Rankin. "Discoveries". rankinstudio.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2025.
  13. ^ John Hollenhorst (8 June 2019). "'Mammoth' discovery made at a secret Utah location". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  14. ^ Noah Slade (December 2022), "Pleistocene Deposits of Lower Wahweap Creek and Its Tributaries, Southern Utah", All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023, no. 8628, Utah State University, doi:10.26076/8357-3c56
  15. ^ "Technology Subcommittee White Paper" (PDF). National Park System Advisory Board – Education Committee. October 2012. pp. 13–16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  16. ^ Tay Wiles (13 October 2014). "Flash flood chaser: One man's obsession improves forecasting in southern Utah". High Country News. Archived from the original on 22 December 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  17. ^ Patrick McCarthy (27 January 2017). "Flood-Chaser Documents Flash Floods on Video. YouTube Videographer Shows the Speed and Power of Flash Floods As They Flow Through Utah Canyons". offgridweb.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  18. ^ Jason Samenow (22 July 2013). "Debris-loaded flash flood tears through southern Utah". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. David Rankin, a self-described "flood chaser" ("As far as I know, I pioneered it [flood chasing]," he said) and photographer/narrator of the video above, said these debris floods are common in southern Utah.
  19. ^ "Explore Alliance Ambassadors - David Rankin". Explore Scientific. 2023. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  20. ^ "132nd Global Star Party - "Asteroids Unveiled" - Explore Alliance". Explore Scientific. 26 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  21. ^ a b "(605911) Cecily = 2016 XD1". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 15 February 2026. Cecily Rankin (b. 1987) holds a B.S. in advanced radiologic sciences. She is the wife of the discoverer and mother of their two boys.
  22. ^ a b c Gregory J. Leonard (7 January 2023). "Once Again the Catalina Sky Survey Discovers an Earth-Impacting Asteroid". The University of Arizona. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  23. ^ "New Observatory Codes" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (97571). Minor Planet Center: 1. 22 February 2016.
  24. ^ Jost Jahn. "M.P.E.C. statistics for measurer D. Rankin". mpec.jostjahn.de. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  25. ^ "Newsletter - July 2025" (PDF). Minor Planet Center. 31 July 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  26. ^ "Singleton and archival observations committee (SARC)". Minor Planet Center. Archived from the original on 16 November 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  27. ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  28. ^ "2024 S2 (P/Rankin)". BAA Comet Section : Comets discovered in 2024. British Astronomical Association. 24 December 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  29. ^ Jessie Wilde (7 March 2025). "Asteroid Hunters". theamericanscholar.org. Phi Beta Kappa. Archived from the original on 12 December 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  30. ^ Robin George Andrews (1 October 2024). How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-324-05020-9. Finding a solitary asteroid moments before [it hits Earth] is a considerably rarer marvel: Rankin was just the sixth person in all human history to have this exclusive experience.
  31. ^ Jace Dela Cruz (22 November 2022). "Astronomers Discover an Asteroid 3 Hours Before Crashing into Lake Ontario, Canada". Tech Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
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