Stephen P. Synnott

Stephen P. Synnott ( born 1946 in the U.S. state of New Jersey) is an American astronomer, who worked on NASA's Voyager program to explore the outer solar system.

Life and career

After a Bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1968, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he graduated in 1970, the Master and in 1974 received his doctorate. From 1975 he worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology.

Synnott discovered by the recordings of the Voyagers several moons in the solar system, including Metis, Larissa, Proteus, Cressida and Thebe.

In his honor, the asteroid ( 6154 ) Stevesynnott was named.