David H. Levy is one of the world’s most celebrated amateur astronomers, who even has an asteroid – 3673 Levy – named after him.
Levy was born in Montreal and developed a keen interest in astronomy early on in his life. After completing a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English literature, he dedicated much of his time to exploring the sky. Through his efforts, Levy has discovered 22 comets – nine of which he discovered using his own backyard telescopes. In fact, in 2010, Levy became the first person to have discovered comets visually, photographically and electronically.
One of Levy’s most significant discoveries was that of the fragmented comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994. This comet collided with Jupiter, producing one of the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed anywhere in the world.
Levy has gone on to write 35 highly popular books and articles for periodicals including Astronomy Magazine, Sky News and Sky and Telescope. He has won a number of awards including the C.A. Chant Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (1980), the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1993), and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets (2007). He has won an Emmy for his part in writing the Discovery Channel documentary, Three Minutes to Impact. He has given lectures and appeared on television shows around the world including ABC’s World News Tonight, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and PBS.
Today, Levy resides in Arizona with his wife, Wendee Levy. They operate the Jarnac Observatory and host a weekly radio show available at www.letstalkstars.com. He is also the President of the National Sharing the Sky Foundation, an organization intended to inspire new generations to develop an inquiring interest in the sciences.
