David Latham

David Latham is an American astronomer associated with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is highly regarded in the scientific community for his pioneering work in the field of exoplanet detection and stellar astronomy.

David Latham is famous for pioneering precise radial velocity techniques used to measure the wobble of distant stars. He authored hundreds of influential studies on the detection and characterization of exoplanets, helping to discover some of the first worlds outside our solar system.

Yes, David Latham co-discovered one of the very first exoplanets ever found, HD 114762 b, which was initially announced in 1989. While initially thought to be a brown dwarf, it was later recognized as a massive gas giant planet orbiting a distant star.

David Latham spent the majority of his prestigious career working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His work at this institution helped lay the groundwork for modern space-based observatories like the Kepler mission.