(7656) JoeMontani = 1992 HX

Discovered 1992 Apr. 24 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak. Named in honor of Joseph L. Montani (b.1952), instrumentalist, optics expert and observer with the Spacewatch project of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. While making observations for Spacewatch he discovered comets P/1997 G1, C/1997 G2 and C/1998 M6 and more than 16 near-earth objects. Prior to joining the Spacewatch group, he made millimeter-wave observations of CO in the Magellanic Clouds, Orion and Monoceros, did high-resolution infrared spectroscopy of solar-system objects from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory and made a laboratory study of volatiles in asteroidal surface minerals.