astronomy

Warren B. Offutt

Warren B. Offutt is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Warren B. Offutt rather than just read about it. In short: Warren B. Offutt (February 13, 1928 – September 20, 2017) was an American amateur astronomer and amateur radio operator.

Key takeaways

Warren B. Offutt belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Warren B. Offutt to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Warren B. Offutt from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Warren B. Offutt (February 13, 1928 – September 20, 2017) was an American amateur astronomer and amateur radio operator. Offutt is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 17 asteroids and has notably collaborated with professional astronomers in observing Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). In 1999 he won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Offutt and his wife, Beverly (since deceased), moved from Illinois to New Mexico when he retired from engineering, specializing in precision astrometry of faint objects in the Solar System. He operated the W & B Observatory (709) in the U.S. village of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, in the Sacramento Mountains, at an altitude of 2500 m (8300 ft). In 1997, Offutt helped with three more major discoveries, among them confirmation of a then-newly discovered moon of Uranus, Sycorax. On 11 February 1998, the outer main-belt asteroid 7639 Offutt was named after him, just before his 70th birthday (M.P.C. 31297).

References

External links Discovery of two distant irregular moons of Uranus, nature, 11 February 1998 Warren B. Offutt Obituary, www.legacy.com

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Warren B. Offutt

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Warren B. Offutt claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Warren B. Offutt before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Warren B. Offutt ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Warren B. Offutt

In research: Warren B. Offutt appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Warren B. Offutt in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Warren B. Offutt is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1928 births, 2017 deaths, 20th-century American astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Warren B. Offutt outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Warren B. Offutt in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Warren B. Offutt means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Warren B. Offutt out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Warren B. Offutt in simple terms?

Warren B. Offutt (February 13, 1928 – September 20, 2017) was an American amateur astronomer and amateur radio operator.

Why does Warren B. Offutt matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Warren B. Offutt?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Warren B. Offutt.