Robert Damian Cardinal (b. 1969) is a research associate at the University of Calgary, a prolific observer at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory and a member of the science team of the Near-Earth Space Surveillance mission.

Rob Cardinal is the second Canadian observer to discover a comet using a Canadian telescope in this century. The discovery of Comet C/2008 T2 Cardinal was made on 1 October 2008 with the Rothney Observatory's 0.5m f/1.0 Baker-Nunn telescope. Cardinal was using this wide-field instrument to search for asteroids at the time of the discovery. Observatory director Phil Langill credits the local community's light-pollution abatement efforts for keeping the skies dark just 35 km outside of Calgary.

Orbit type: Main Belt

Reference: MPC 80329