Career
Kowalski has had a lifelong interest in astronomy with an emphasis on planetary science. As an amateur in Florida during the 1990s he developed an interest in astrometric and photometric observations of asteroids. He started the Minor Planet Mailing List in mid-1997.
Kowalski discovered 14627 Emilkowalski in 1998.
In 1999 he was invited to use the Jet Propulsion Laboratory"s 0.6-m Ritchey-Chrétien telescope to make observations in support of the Deep Space 1 mission. Also in 1999 he was the Scientific Coordinator for the first Minor Planet Amateur-Professional Workshop at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Of these, periodic comet 226P/Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski was the recovery of Edward Pigott"s lost comet of 1783. On October 6, 2008, while observing with the Computer Software Systems 1.5 meter (60") telescope at the peak of Mount Lemmon, he discovered 2008 TC3.
Approximately 20 hours after its discovery this asteroid entered the Earth"s atmosphere over Sudan, becoming the first asteroid discovered before impact with the earth.
Kowalski was honored with a small piece of 2008 TC3. On January 1, 2014 Kowalski found another impacting asteroid, this was designated 2014 Associate of Arts. The impact zone for this asteroid was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Asteroid 7392 is named in his honor.
Kowalski is a Federal Aviation Administration certified commercial pilot holding Instrument and flight instructor ratings.
He also runs a free-lance photography studio in Tucson, Arizona.
