Carl Grillmair

Last updated

Carl Grillmair
Born
Carl Johann Grillmair

1959
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Died (aged 67)
Llano, California, U.S.
Cause of death
Gunshot wound
Education University of Calgary (BS)
University of Victoria (MS)
Australian National University (PhD)
SpouseLouise Grillmair
Scientific career
Fields
  • Astrophysics
  • astronomy
Institutions
Thesis Dynamics of globular cluster systems  (1993)
Website www.ipac.caltech.edu/science/staff/carl-grillmair

Carl Johann Grillmair (1959 – February 16, 2026) was a Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist. He was a research scientist at the California Institute of Technology beginning in 1997, where he studied exoplanets, galactic structure, and dark matter. He collaborated on prominent NASA telescope missions including the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and discovered water on multiple exoplanets.

Contents

On February 16, 2026, Grillmair was fatally shot outside his home in Llano, an unincorporated community in Antelope Valley, California.

Early life and education

Grillmair was born in Calgary in 1959 to Leo and Elfi Grillmair. [1] He had two younger siblings, including Walter Grillmair, who died in 1981. He was interested in astronomy since childhood. [2]

Grillmair earned a Bachelor of Science with honours in astrophysics from the University of Calgary in 1983, where he attended on a M. Cecil Brownlee scholarship. [3] He was awarded the Province of Alberta Award and BP Canada Award, and graduated with a Top Student in Physics prize. [3]

He earned a Master of Science in astronomy from the University of Victoria in 1986 on a Petrie fellowship. [1] Grillmair briefly attended the University of Toronto in 1987 as an open doctoral fellow before being awarded the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Ph.D. Scholarship and moving to the Australian National University in 1988. [4] There, he studied the dynamics of globular clusters of stars and earned a doctorate in 1993. [4] [5]

Career

As a graduate student, Gillmair worked as a data analyst at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and on the International Ultraviolet Explorer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In 1992, he began working on the Wide Field and Planetary Camera, analyzing instrument data from the Hubble Space Telescope. [6] He also tested and calibrated its successor, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and analyzed charge transfer efficiency problems from data on orbit until 1997. [3] [7]

In 1994, Gillmair joined the Study of the Astrophysics of Globular Clusters in Extragalactic Systems (SAGES) collaboration, using Hubble images and spectroscopy from the W. M. Keck Observatory to study extragalactic globular cluster systems. He also studied stellar populations in the Local Group. Along with Douglas Richstone and Sandra Faber, he was a co-investigator on the NUKER collaboration, which used Hubble data to study local galactic cores, until 2001. [3] Gillmair worked with John Trauger in 1998 to investigate exoplanet imaging techniques for use on future telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope. From 2000 to 2010, he also worked with Stephanie A. Majewski as co-investigator on the Space Interferometry Mission, selecting a target list for the telescope, which was to study the structure and evolution of the galactic disc and halo. [8] [9] Grillmair collaborated with Kathryn Johnston on the Origins Billion Star Survey, intended to measure the position and motion of stars in the Milky Way, between 2004 and 2007. [3] [10]

Since 2005, Grillmair was a co-investigator on the Virtual Planetary Laboratory with Victoria Meadows. He led the exoplanet search team at the California Transit Authority from 2005 to 2007 and was involved with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory project in 2008. He was a principal investigator for the Palomar Transient Factory Galactic Dynamics project from 2007 to 2011. [11] He was a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute from 2009 to 2012. [12]

He joined Caltech's Spitzer Science Center in 1997. [1] [13] He worked on the Spitzer Space Telescope, including on the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and briefly as a deputy lead on the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) instrument. [1] From 2010 to 2013, he was a scientist on NASA's Explorers Program, where he helped propose and develop instruments for exoplanet spectroscopy that would later be implemented on the Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE). [14] Since 2010, he was a calibration scientist on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). [1] [15] He worked at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech before he died. [2] He discovered water around multiple exoplanets. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Killing

On Monday, February 16, 2026, Grillmair was fatally shot on his front porch in Llano, an unincorporated community in Antelope Valley, California. [20] The shooting was reported at 6:10 a.m. on the 30700 block of 165th Street East. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, and he was identified two days later by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. [21] The examiner's office reported that he died from a single bullet wound to the torso. [22]

Officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Palmdale responded to a call about a carjacking in the area and arrested a suspect. [23] The man was named as 29-year-old Freddy Snyder, who on February 18, 2026 was charged with the murder and separately of carjacking and burglary. [22] [24] Snyder lived two miles from Grillmair's residence and was reported as having a history of trespassing on Grillmair's property, who had reported him to police on December 20, 2025. [25] Snyder was arrested on a weapons charge in that case and released three days later. [25] [26]

News of the shooting was reported widely in international media. [27] [28] Grillmair's killing was likened to that of Nuno Loureiro, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who was shot two months prior. [22] On April 2026, in response to the missing scientists conspiracy theory, the White House opened an investigation into the killings and disappearances of scientists and government officials, including retired Air Force Major General Neil McCasland and Monica Reza, a materials engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. [29]

Grillmair's widow, Louise Grillmair, rejected the conspiracy theory and told the press that she believed her husband was targeted in a misguided revenge plot. [30] In the months before the killing, a man had trespassed on their property claiming to be hunting coyote and causing disturbances at nearby homes. Although Grillmair had not called 911 to report the man, Louise believes the suspect blamed her husband for the police contact. [30] The man returned with a baseball bat two weeks before the shooting, and then allegedly returned on February 16 and killed Grillmair. [30]

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors honored Grillmair on March 3, 2026. [31]

Personal life

He was married to Louise Grillmair. [31] He was an avid pilot, flying gliders and sailplanes, and enjoyed repairing his home, where he kept a small observatory with multiple telescopes. [2] He also enjoyed classical and rock music, cycling and clean energy. [3]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Caltech Mourns the Passing of Carl Grillmair (1959–2026)". California Institute of Technology. 21 February 2026. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Caltech and IPAC Mourn the Passing of Carl Grillmair (1959–2026)". IPAC. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Carl Grillmair's Curriculum Vita". web.ipac.caltech.edu. California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Alumni - Carl J Grillmair 1993". Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics. Australian National University. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  5. ↑ Grillmair, Carl J. (January 1993). "Dynamics of Globular Cluster Systems". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. 10 (4): 363–363. doi:10.1017/S1323358000027284. ISSN   1323-3580 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  6. ↑ DeVorkin, David H.; Smith, Robert William (2015). The Hubble Cosmos: 25 Years of New Vistas in Space. National Geographic Books. p. 213. ISBN   978-1-4262-1557-5 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  7. ↑ O'Meara, Stephen James (12 April 2007). Deep-Sky Companions: Hidden Treasures. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-139-46373-7 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  8. ↑ O'Meara, Stephen James (8 April 2013). Deep-Sky Companions: Southern Gems. Cambridge University Press. p. 66. ISBN   978-1-139-85154-1 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  9. ↑ Conference, Hellenic Astronomical Society International (4 October 2006). Recent Advances in Astronomy and Astrophysics: 7th International Conference of the Hellenic Astronomical Society. American Inst. of Physics. p. 385. ISBN   978-0-7354-0343-7 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  10. ↑ Ho, Luis C. (9 September 2004). Coevolution of Black Holes and Galaxies: Volume 1, Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Series. Cambridge University Press. p. 230. ISBN   978-0-521-82449-1 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  11. ↑ Symposium, International Astronomical Union (29 April 2010). Stellar Populations (IAU S262): Planning for the Next Decade. Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN   978-0-521-76484-1 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  12. ↑ "Carl Grillmair". astrobiology.nasa.gov. NASA Astrobiology Institute. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  13. ↑ "Science Staff". IPAC. Caltech. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  14. ↑ Boss, Alan (3 February 2009). The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets. Basic Books. p. 146. ISBN   978-0-7867-4367-4 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  15. ↑ Fischer, Debra (2008). Extreme Solar Systems: Proceedings of a Conference Held on Santorini Island, Greece, 25-29 June 2007. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. ISBN   978-1-58381-666-0 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  16. ↑ Yeager, Ashley (10 December 2008). "Exoplanet may harbour stormy skies". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2008.1289 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  17. ↑ Johnston, Hamish (10 December 2008). "Water confirmed on distant planet". Physics World. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  18. ↑ Stevenson, David S. (13 August 2013). Under a Crimson Sun: Prospects for Life in a Red Dwarf System. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 12. ISBN   978-1-4614-8133-1 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  19. ↑ Stevenson, David S. (11 September 2019). Red Dwarfs: Their Geological, Chemical, and Biological Potential for Life. Springer Nature. p. 64. ISBN   978-3-030-25550-3 . Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  20. ↑ "Caltech astrophysicist fatally shot on porch of his rural SoCal home, where he studied the stars". Los Angeles Times. 20 February 2026. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  21. ↑ "Caltech scientist, 67, shot to death in Llano". Los Angeles Daily News. 20 February 2026. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 Vargas, Ramon Antonio (20 February 2026). "Renowned scientist who studied distant planets fatally shot at his home near LA". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  23. ↑ "67-year-old man fatally shot on front porch of LA County home, deputies say - CBS Los Angeles". CBS News. 19 February 2026. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  24. ↑ https://pasadenanow.com/main/arraignment-postponed-for-man-charged-with-killing-caltech-scientist
  25. 1 2 Iorfida, Chris (23 April 2026). "Killing of Calgary-born scientist tied to mysterious U.S. deaths, disappearances despite quick arrest". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  26. ↑ Santucci, Jeanine (23 April 2026). "Feds probe 'missing scientists' list. Who has died, disappeared?". USA TODAY. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "Who was Carl Grillmair? The Astrophysist who found water on an exoplanet dies after being fatally shot". The Times of India. 22 February 2026. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  28. ↑ "The deepening mystery of Caltech astrophysicist killed on the porch of his remote desert compound". Los Angeles Times. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  29. ↑ Chen, Natasha; Stambaugh, Alex; Boyette, Chris (21 April 2026). "At least 10 scientists tied to sensitive US research have died or disappeared in recent years, sparking federal investigation". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  30. 1 2 3 "Relatives of 10 'missing scientists' grapple with impact of wild speculation". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  31. 1 2 "LA County Board Honors Slain Caltech Astrophysicist Who Worked in Pasadena for Nearly 30 Years – Pasadena Now". pasadenanow.com. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
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