David Levy Biography

Levy was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1948. He developed an interest in astronomy at an early age. However, he pursued and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature. In 1967 he was nearly expelled from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Montreal Centre after a disagreement with some members of its administration. "Levy will never amount to anything," one senior official of the RASC remarked in 1968. Years later, Levy began a correspondence with Isabel Williamson, the person most responsible for his near-ouster. These letters turned into visits, the presentation of the National Service Award to Miss Williamson, and the naming of the Montreal Centre's Observatory after her Because of his interest in astronomy, Levy was an ardent comet watcher; by the beginning of the 1990s, he had discovered more than 20 comets. He first met the Shoemakers in 1988, when the couple was tracking a comet he had discovered. In March 1993 the team discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9 in orbit around the planet Jupiter while they were working at the Palomar Observatory in southern California. In 1994 Levy and the Shoemakers watched through telescopes as the major fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter. Following months of speculation as to what the impacts would entail, the event itself proved equal to the most optimistic predictions. From the atmosphere of a bruised and battered Jupiter arose tall, bright plumes that left broad, dark stains beneath them, providing a spectacular show for sky watchers around the worldHe lives with his wife Wendee in Vail, Arizona, where they operate the Jarnac Observatory, surveying the sky for comets and promoting astronomical education.