Steel, Duncan, 1955-

Duncan I. Steel (born 1955) is a British space scientist. He has discovered several minor planets and has written four popular science books. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union, and has worked at the Xerra Earth Observation Institute in Nelson, in the South Island of New Zealand. He was formerly on the staff of the University of Salford in the United Kingdom. Steel completed a PhD at the University of Canterbury in 1984 with a thesis on the orbital characteristics of meteoroids. Between 1990 and 1994 he discovered twelve numbered minor planets. The asteroid 4713 Steel, discovered by Robert McNaught in 1989, is named after him. In August 2022 Steel pleaded guilty to burglary and breaching the New Zealand Harmful Digital Communications Act. He was sentenced to 12 months' house arrest and ordered to pay $3000 in reparation for emotional harm.