José Luis Ortiz Moreno is an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain. He leads a team working at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Granada, Spain, where he is Vicedirector of Technology. On July 29, 2005, Ortiz announced the discovery of a new Kuiper belt object which has been labelled 2003 EL61. Michael E. Brown and his team at Caltech had also had been observing 2003 EL61 and had given it the nickname "Santa". Brown initially supported Ortiz and his team being given credit for the discovery. However, Ortiz later admitted that he had accessed Brown's research and information before announcing his discovery; this possible breach of ethics is being investigated.
External links and references
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
- One Find, Two Astronomers: An Ethical Brawl, The New York Times, September 13, 2005
- Astronomer denies improper use of web data, NewScientist.com, September 21, 2005
