Gehrels

Gehrels (pronounced "Gay-rels") may refer to the following:

• Tom Gehrels (1925-2011): A Dutch-American astronomer and professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona. He is best known for pioneering photometric surveys of asteroids and for discovering numerous asteroids and comets. He was a key figure in the Spacewatch project, which aimed to identify and track near-Earth asteroids. He was also involved in the early stages of planetary exploration, studying lunar surfaces and analyzing data from the Pioneer and Voyager missions.

• Asteroids Named in Honor of Tom Gehrels: Several asteroids have been named in Gehrels' honor, including 1777 Gehrels and 18034 Tomgehrels. These designations acknowledge his significant contributions to the field of asteroid research.

• Gehrels High Sensitivity Transient Testbed (GHT): A proposed mission, formerly known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), and now named the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Though the project itself is not named "Gehrels," Tom Gehrels' early work and advocacy for large-scale sky surveys significantly influenced the development of projects aimed at detecting transient objects.