This is Love The Asteroid Hunter
Jul 1, 2026
David Rankin, a nighttime observer and asteroid hunter at the Catalina Sky Survey, tracks and discovers thousands of asteroids. He recounts long nights scanning dark skies, finding asteroids in old photos, and the thrill of a rock that hit over Toronto. He explains monitoring near-Earth objects, how DART-style nudges can help, and why keeping watch matters for our planet.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Jupiter Impact Sparked Modern NEO Surveys
- The 1994 comet impacts on Jupiter were a wake-up call that convinced NASA and Congress to systematically search for near-Earth objects.
- Congress directed NASA to catalog NEOs one kilometer or wider, launching sustained asteroid monitoring programs like Catalina Sky Survey.
From Cardboard Tubes To Orion Nebula Photo
- As a teen David Rankin built his first reflecting telescopes from sauna tubes and old pipes after finding an online PDF guide.
- He used a DSLR on the eyepiece to take his first astrophotograph of the Orion Nebula and then dedicated himself to astrophotography.
Backyard Discovery Became Asteroid Cecily
- David Rankin discovered an asteroid in December 2016 that didn't match any known coordinates and later learned it was new after orbital confirmation.
- He named the asteroid after his wife Cecily and tracked it while helping refine orbits for other discoveries.