Brian Burt

Planetary Science

MS Applied Physics, Northern Arizona University

Brian Burt works with Dr. Nick Moskovitz to acquire and catalog asteroid physical properties. This work is a continuation and expansion of the astorb.dat asteroid orbital properties file. Over several years, he and Dr. Moskovitz have transitioned the astorb.dat flat file into a fully formed and accessible relational database that powers the many novel tools available at asteroid.lowell.edu. 

Burt brings a novel background in observations, computation, and website development. He has been working with Dr. Moskovitz at Lowell since 2016. He earned a master’s degree at Northern Arizona University, with research focusing on the characterization of the Mars Trojan asteroids, and earned a B.A. in Astrophysics from Franklin and Marshall College where he assisted determining sensitivities of Pulsar Timing Arrays to Gravitational waves. His main goal is to build useful tools to help scientists in their research and that engage the public.