Anthony G.A. Brown | |
---|---|
Born | May 12, 1969 |
Nationality | Dutch |
Education | Ph.D. |
Alma mater | University of Leiden |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Doctoral advisor | Tim de Zeeuw |
Anthony Brown (born 12 May 1969 [1] ) is a Dutch astronomer currently working at the University of Leiden most noted for leading the Gaia project's Data Processing and Analysis Consortium. He was listed in the 2018 Nature's 10 as one of the Ten people who mattered this year by the scientific journal Nature. [2]
Anthony Brown obtained his Master of Science degree cum laude in Astronomy from the University of Leiden in 1991, where he also obtained his PhD in 1996 on the topic of the stellar content and evolution of OB associations. [3] [4] After postdoc positions at the University of Leiden, the National Astronomical Observatory (Mexico), and the European Southern Observatory (Germany), he rejoined the University of Leiden first as a research associate from 2001 to 2006, and then as faculty member.
His involvement with the Gaia mission started in 1997 with contributions to the science case for the mission. As a member of the photometric and classification working groups he contributed to the optimization of the photometric filter system, and has been a member of the Gaia science team since 2006. He was appointed Chair of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) Executive in 2012, and is the corresponding author of Gaia Data Release 1 and 2. [5] [6]
He delivered the prestigious Spitzer Lectures at Princeton University in 2019. [7] [8]
HD 121504 is an 8th magnitude star in the constellation of Centaurus. It is a yellow dwarf and remarkably similar to the Sun, only slightly brighter like α Centauri A. However, it is located at a distance of about 135 light years and thus is not visible to the unaided eye; binoculars or small telescope is required to see this star.
21 Tauri, formally known as Asterope, is a component of the Asterope double star in the Pleiades open cluster. 21 Tauri is the stars' Flamsteed designation. This star is potentially faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.76 in ideal conditions, although anybody viewing the object is likely to instead see the pair as a single elongated form of magnitude 5.6. The distance to 21 Tauri can be estimated from its annual parallax shift of 7.6 mas, yielding a range of around 431 light years. It is moving further from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of +6 km/s.
Wolf 1061 is an M-class red dwarf star located about 14.1 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is the 36th-closest-known star system to the Sun and has a relatively high proper motion of 1.2 seconds of arc per year. Wolf 1061 does not have any unusual spectroscopic features.
14 Canis Minoris, also known as HD 65345, is a single star in the equatorial constellation of Canis Minor. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +5.30. The distance to this star, as determined from an annual parallax shift of 13.50±0.34 mas, is approximately 242 light years. 14 CMI has a relatively large proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at the rate of 0.188 arcsecond/year. It is moving further from the Sun with heliocentric radial velocity of +42.6 km/s.
HD 42818 is a suspected astrometric binary star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Camelopardalis. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.76. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 18.64±0.23 mas as seen from Earth's orbit, it is located some 175 light years away. The system appears to be moving closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −7 km/s. As of 2012, it is estimated that the system will make its closest approach to the Sun in 485,000 years at a distance of around 169.2 ly (51.87 pc).
HD 1185 is a double star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. The primary, with an apparent magnitude of 6.15, is a white main-sequence star of spectral type A2VpSi, indicating it has stronger silicon absorption lines than usual, thus making it also an Ap star. The secondary companion, which is 9.08 arcseconds away, is not visible to the naked eye at an apparent magnitude of 9.76. It shares common proper motion and parallax with the primary star but orbital parameters are still unknown.
HD 165259, also known as HR 6751 is a triple star system located in the southern circumpolar constellation of Apus. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.86, making it faintly visible to the naked eye Parallax measurements place the system at a distance of 138 light years, and it is currently receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 13.1 km/s.
HD 135438 is a K-type giant star in the northern constellation of Boötes. With an apparent magnitude of 6.0, it lies about 650 light years away.
R Boötis is a variable star in the northern constellation of Boötes. Typically the star is too faint to be readily visible to the naked eye, with a brightness that fluctuates between apparent visual magnitudes of 9.98. The distance to this star is approximately 2,150 light years based on parallax measurements. It is drifting closer with a radial velocity of about −58 km/s.
RX Andromedae is a variable star in the constellation of Andromeda. Although it is classified as a dwarf nova of the Z Camelopardalis (UGZ) type, it has shown low-luminosity periods typical of VY Sculptoris stars. However, for most of the time it varies from an apparent visual magnitude of 15.1 at minimum brightness to a magnitude of 10.2 at maximum brightness, with a period of approximately 13 days.
29 Camelopardalis is a double star in the circumpolar constellation Camelopardalis. With an apparent magnitude of 6.59, it's right below the max visibility to the naked eye, and can only be viewed under phenomenal conditions. The star is located 484 light years away based on parallax, but is drifting further away with a radial velocity of 3.9 km/s.
HD 134060, also known by its Gould designation of 38 G. Circini, is a star in the southern constellation of Circinus. It is near the lower limit of stars visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 6.29. The distance to HD 134060, as determined using an annual parallax shift measurement of 41.59 mas, is 78.4 light years. It is moving further away with a heliocentric radial velocity of 43.5 km/s, having come within 34.6 ly some 439,000 years ago.
55 Persei is a single, blue-white hued star in the northern constellation Perseus. It is faintly visible to the naked eye under good seeing conditions, having an apparent visual magnitude of 5.73. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 8.50±0.38 mas as seen from Earth's orbit, the star is located about 380 light years from the Sun. At that distance, the visual magnitude is diminished by an extinction of 0.39 due to interstellar dust.
SY Muscae is a binary star system in the constellation Musca composed of a red giant and a white dwarf. Its apparent magnitude varies from 10.2 to 12.7 over a period of 624.5 days. Although the binary is a symbiotic star system, it is unusual in that it does not have an eruptive component. It is an S-type symbiotic system, which means that the light comes from the stars rather than surrounding dust.
Gliese 402 is a star located 22.7 light years from the Solar System. Located in the constellation of Leo, it is also known as Wolf 358 from its entry in Max Wolf's star catalogue. The stars nearest to Gliese 402 are Gliese 393, at 3.43 light years, Gliese 408, at 6.26 light years, and Gliese 382 at 6.66 light years.
NGC 7419 is an open cluster in the constellation Cepheus. It is heavily reddened and notable for containing five red supergiants, the highest number known in any cluster until the end of the 20th century, but probably no blue supergiants.
Amina Helmi is an Argentine astronomer and professor at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
V1315 Aquilae is a cataclysmic variable star in the north of the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It is in the sub-set of nova-like (NL) variables, specifically a SW Sextantis star. These were characterized as having non-magnetic white dwarfs – thus that do not undergo dwarf-nova bright luminations ("eruptions"). There is countering evidence for some magnetism. Being a SW Sextantis star, V1315 Aquilae has a high rate of mass transfer, so it is in steady-state accretion and in a constant state of outburst. It emits most of its light in the visible range, and this comes from the accretion disk. The eclipse depth is 1.8 mag. No description of the donor star is made.
NGC 1276 is an optical double star system located in the constellation Perseus. The system was discovered by astronomer John Dreyer on December 12, 1876. The pair consists of two 15th magnitude stars known as Pul -3 270349 and Pul -3 270357 that are unrelated as they lie at different distances from each other. Pul -3 270349 lies at a distance of 1,134.5587 parsecs (3,700.436 ly) and Pul -3 270357 lies at a distance of 1,774.6229 parsecs (5,788.046 ly).