(Space Telescope Science Institute)
My mom was an avid astronomer, even substitute-lecturing
at Butler planetarium (in addition to many wild
adventures in her life), so astronomy is in my blood.
The space program is even more of an obsession with
me. Following two handfuls of primary and secondary
schools in Missouri, Arizona, and Nevada, I settled
into the University of Nevada and received a bachelors
in physics.
After traveling the US, the U.S. Naval Observatory
in Washington, D.C. hired me as an astrometric observer
and data analyst on the 6” transit circle
in 1988. Two years later, a transfer to Blenheim,
New Zealand allowed me to work with the 7”
automated transit-circle detachment, building observing
schedules, maintaining software, performing telescope
maintenance, and providing administrative support.
New Zealand was too beautiful to leave so soon,
so I resigned in 1995 to spend more time there,
and eventually met my wife-to-be. Returning to the
US the following year, I worked briefly for the
University of Maryland’s Astronomy Dept. under
a Planetary Data Systems data archival contract.
For the last 7 years I’ve had the privilege
of being a ‘long range planner’ (integrated
science planning) on the HST project with Computer
Sciences Corporation at the Space Telescope Science
Institute. There is one more course remaining before
I finish up a MSc. of Engineering in Applied Physics
from Johns Hopkins! Additionally, over the last
6 years, I’ve been part of a team investigating
design and feasibility of external occulters for
use with space telescopes: UMBRAS.
External occulters (or on-axis light baffles) are
a relatively simple way to augment direct extrasolar
planet detection techniques, but to find them occulters
must be deployed in space because the system scaling
is so vast.
Work, research, school, and a family—my wife
and two preschool boys—are certainly keeping
me busy! If I stopped to think about it, I would
probably look forward to the day when I can return
to exploring more of the planet, read for pleasure,
write stories, play chess, and hike and camp with
my family.
The power and utility of HST is demonstrated clearly
in Heritage’s image of the Arp-Madore ring
galaxy AM0644-741. A colleague introduced me to
this example of universal majesty years ago and
it has been a persistent undercurrent in my dreamtime
ever since. The
best I could achieve with a few hours on a 24”
Perkin-Elmer B&C in admittedly not-so-great
seeing pales in comparison. But the pedigree of
this ring’s nucleus is much different than
that of the Cartwheel’s
(cf., the Heritage image with HST/WFPC2’s
famous Ring galaxy), and the differences cannot
be distinguished in ground-based images from even
the best telescopes. This type of ring galaxy is
probably a kind of galactic-scale “splash”.
Tremaine’s simulations show that the ring
itself is likely a clumping of expanding (or contracting)
material sheparded together by a near-head-on collision
between this galaxy and another. The blueness of
the ring clearly shows that star formation is enhanced
in the ring compared to the nucleus. The source
of the slight warp in the ring’s uniformity
has not been identified, however it is likely a
remnant of the galaxy’s previous history or
interaction with one of the two spheroidal companions—one
of which was the likely impactor.
HST isn’t just one more in a long series
of NASA astronomy and space enterprises, it has
a special place in people’s hearts and minds
all over the world because it has refined the optical
view of the universe like no other telescope in
our lifetimes. To me, HST represents the best of
America and humanity, and is a shining symbol of
benevolent exploration, triumph over tragedy, and
an unparalleled example of what teamwork and determination
can do. Heritage offers this image of the universe’s
very own engagement ring to bring you closer to
your cosmos through the eye of the Hubble Space
Telescope.
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