Mike Irwin

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Mike Irwin

Mike Irwin and Roger Davies.jpg

Mike Irwin receiving the Herschel Medal from Roger Davies in 2012
BornMichael J. Irwin
Known for Discovery of the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
Awards Herschel Medal (2012)
Scientific career
Institutions University of Cambridge
Website www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~mike/

Michael J. Irwin is a British astronomer. He is the director of the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit and one of the discoverers of the Cetus Dwarf galaxy and the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Astronomer Scientist who studies celestial bodies

An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets, and galaxies – in either observational or theoretical astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers study include planetary science, solar astronomy, the origin or evolution of stars, or the formation of galaxies. Related but distinct subjects like physical cosmology, which studies the Universe as a whole.

Cetus Dwarf is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. It lies approximately 2.46 Million light-years from Earth. It is an isolated galaxy of the Local Group, which also contains the Milky Way. All of the most readily observable stars in the galaxy are red giants.

Contents

Research

Irwin is known worldwide for the leading role he plays in processing of digital optical and infra-red survey data. Currently, his efforts in processing of digital optical and infrared survey data of Vista Data Flow are being used for processing United Kingdom Infrared Telescope data. [6]

United Kingdom Infrared Telescope

UKIRT, the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope, is a 3.8 metre (150 inch) infrared reflecting telescope, the second largest dedicated infrared telescope in the world. Until 2014 it was operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hilo and located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i as part of Mauna Kea Observatory. It was owned by the United Kingdom Science and Technology Facilities Council. UKIRT is currently being funded by NASA and operated under scientific cooperation between Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, the University of Hawaii, and the U. S. Naval Observatory. The telescope is set to be decommissioned after completion of the Thirty Meter Telescope as part of the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan.

Awards and honours

In 2012, Royal Astronomical Society awarded Michael Irwin the 2012 Herschel Medal, which recognises investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics. [7] He has also made contributions in the scientific community by writing and helping write several books. [3]

Royal Astronomical Society learned society

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its headquarters are in Burlington House, on Piccadilly in London. The society has over 4,000 members, termed Fellows, most of them professional researchers or postgraduate students. Around a quarter of Fellows live outside the UK. Members of the public who have an interest in astronomy and geophysics but do not qualify as Fellows may become Friends of the RAS.

The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award. It is named after the RAS's first president, William Herschel. The medal was first awarded in 1974. The medal has been shared twice, in 1977 and 1986. It has been awarded 18 times to a total of 20 people, mostly from the UK.

Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry "to ascertain the nature of the astronomical objects, rather than their positions or motions in space". Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Emissions from these objects are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

List of discovered minor planets

According to the Minor Planet Center's official discoverer list, Irwin co-discovered 8 minor planets during 1990–1996. [8]

The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official worldwide organization in charge of collecting observational data for minor planets, calculating their orbits and publishing this information via the Minor Planet Circulars. Under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory.

Minor planet astronomical object in direct orbit around a star that is neither a planet nor originally classified as a comet

A minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is neither a planet nor exclusively classified as a comet. Before 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially used the term minor planet, but during that year's meeting it reclassified minor planets and comets into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies (SSSBs).

(8012) 1990 HO3 29 April 1990 list   [A]
(8361) 1990 JN1 1 May 1990 list   [A]
15810 Arawn 12 May 1994 list   [A]
(16684) 1994 JQ1 11 May 1994 list   [A]
(19299) 1996 SZ4 16 September 1996 list   [B] [C]
(48443) 1990 HY5 29 April 1990 list   [A]
(58165) 1990 HQ5 29 April 1990 list   [A]
(73682) 1990 HU5 29 April 1990 list   [A]
Co-discovery made with:
A A. Żytkow
B A. Fitzsimmons
C I. P. Williams

Related Research Articles

Cosmological constant constant representing stress-energy density of the vacuum in Einsteins equation

In cosmology, the cosmological constant is the energy density of space, or vacuum energy, that arises in Albert Einstein's field equations of general relativity. It is closely associated to the concepts of dark energy and quintessence.

The Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy, also known as the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, is an elliptical loop-shaped satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It consists of four globular clusters, the main cluster having been discovered in 1994. Sgr dSph is roughly 10,000 light-years in diameter, and is currently about 70,000 light-years from Earth, travelling in a polar orbit at a distance of about 50,000 light-years from the core of the Milky Way. In its looping, spiraling path, it has passed through the plane of the Milky Way several times in the past. In 2018 the Gaia project of the European Space Agency showed that Sgr dSph had caused perturbations in a set of stars near the Milky Way's core, causing unexpected rippling movements of the stars triggered when it sailed past the Milky Way between 300 and 900 million years ago.

Messier 81 spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

Messier 81 is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away, with a diameter of 90,000 light years, about half the size of the Milky Way, in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size, and active galactic nucleus, Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also makes it a popular target for amateur astronomers.

Messier 54 globular cluster

Messier 54 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1778 and subsequently included in his catalog of comet-like objects. M54 is easily found in the sky, being close to the star ζ Sagittarii. It is, however, not resolvable into individual stars even with larger amateur telescopes.

Dwarf galaxy Small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars

A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of about 100 million up to several billion stars, a small number compared to the Milky Way's 200–400 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud, which closely orbits the Milky Way and contains over 30 billion stars, is sometimes classified as a dwarf galaxy; others consider it a full-fledged galaxy. Dwarf galaxies' formation and activity are thought to be heavily influenced by interactions with larger galaxies. Astronomers identify numerous types of dwarf galaxies, based on their shape and composition.

Messier 74 galaxy

Messier 74 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is at a distance of about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms and is therefore used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe. However, the relatively large angular size of the galaxy and the galaxy's face-on orientation make it an ideal object for professional astronomers who want to study spiral arm structure and spiral density waves. It is estimated that M74 is home to about 100 billion stars.

NGC 3982 spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 3982 is an intermediate spiral galaxy approximately 68 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is also known as UGC 6918. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789 and misclassified as planetary nebula. NGC 3982 is a part of the M109 Group.

Tucana Dwarf dwarf galaxy in the constellation Tucana

The Tucana Dwarf Galaxy is a dwarf galaxy in the constellation Tucana. It was discovered in 1990 by R.J. Lavery of Mount Stromlo Observatory. It is composed of very old stars and is very isolated from other galaxies. Its location on the opposite side of the Milky Way from other Local Group galaxies makes it an important object for study.

Leuschner Observatory

Leuschner Observatory, originally called the Students' Observatory, is an observatory jointly operated by the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. The observatory was built in 1886 on the Berkeley campus. For many years, it was directed by Armin Otto Leuschner, for whom the observatory was renamed in 1951. In 1965, it was relocated to its present home in Lafayette, California, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Berkeley campus. In 2012, the physics and astronomy department of San Francisco State University became a partner.

The Milky Way has several smaller galaxies gravitationally bound to it, as part of the Milky Way subgroup, which is part of the local galaxy cluster, the Local Group.

Type Ia supernova

A type Ia supernova is a type of supernova that occurs in binary systems in which one of the stars is a white dwarf. The other star can be anything from a giant star to an even smaller white dwarf.

The Supernova Cosmology Project is one of two research teams that determined the likelihood of an accelerating universe and therefore a positive cosmological constant, using data from the redshift of Type Ia supernovae. The project is headed by Saul Perlmutter at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with members from Australia, Chile, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Palomar 12 globular cluster

Palomar 12 is a globular cluster in the constellation Capricornus.

SN 1993J supernova in the M81 galaxy, observed in 1993

SN 1993J is a supernova observed in the galaxy M81. It was discovered on 28 March 1993 by F. Garcia in Spain. At the time, it was the second-brightest type II supernova observed in the twentieth century behind SN 1987A.

SN 1990U was a type Ic supernova event in the nucleus of the galaxy NGC 7479. It was discovered July 27, 1990 by the Berkeley Automated Supernova Search after reaching magnitude 16±0.5. Initially this was classified as a Type Ib supernova, but the weakness of the neutral helium absorption lines led to a reclassification.

SN 2002cx is a peculiar type Ia supernova. It was discovered in May 2002 by a team of researchers from LBL. It behaved differently from normal type Ia supernovae, and differently from several other previously observed peculiar type Ia supernovae including SN 1991T and SN 1991bg.

SN 1994I supernova

SN 1994I is a Type Ic supernova discovered on April 2, 1994 in the Whirlpool Galaxy by amateur astronomers Tim Puckett and Jerry Armstrong of the Atlanta Astronomy Club. Type Ic supernova are a rare type of supernova that result from the explosion of a very massive star that has shed its outer layers of hydrogen and helium. The explosion results in a highly luminous burst of radiation that then dims over the course of weeks or months. SN 1994I was a relatively nearby supernova, and provided an important addition to the then small collection of known Type Ic supernova. Very early images were captured of SN 1994I, as two high school students in Oil City, Pennsylvania serendipitously took images of the Whirlpool Galaxy using the 30-inch telescope at Leuschner Observatory on March 31, 1994, which included SN 1994I just after it began to brighten.

SN 2014J type Ia supernova in Messier 82

SN 2014J was a type-Ia supernova in Messier 82 discovered in mid-January 2014. It was the closest type-Ia supernova discovered for 42 years, and none have been closer as of 2018. The supernova was discovered by chance during an undergraduate teaching session at the University of London Observatory. It peaked on 31 January 2014, reaching an apparent magnitude of 10.5. SN 2014J was the subject of an intense observing campaign by professional astronomers and was bright enough to be seen by amateur astronomers.

Calcium-rich supernovae are a subclass of supernovae that, in contrast to more well-known traditional supernova classes, are fainter and produce unusually large amounts of calcium. Since their luminosity is located in a gap between that of novae and other supernovae, they are also referred to as "gap" transients. Only around 15 events have been classified as a calcium-rich supernova – a combination of their intrinsic rarity and low luminosity make new discoveries and their subsequent study difficult. This makes calcium-rich supernovae one of the most mysterious supernova subclasses currently known.

Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment Interferometric radio telescope array in South Africa

The Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) is an interferometric array of 1024 6-meter (20ft) diameter radio telescopes, operating at 400-800MHz, being deployed at the Square Kilometer Array site in the Karoo region of South Africa. The array is designed to measure 21-cm hydrogen line emission on large angular scales, in order to map out the baryon acoustic oscillations, and constrain models of dark energy and dark matter.

References

  1. ↑ Levy, David H. (2000-11-22). The Scientific American book of the cosmos. Macmillan. pp. 79–. ISBN   978-0-312-25453-7 . Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Ibata, R. A.; Gilmore, G.; Irwin, M. J. (1994). "A dwarf satellite galaxy in Sagittarius". Nature . 370 (6486): 194. Bibcode:1994Natur.370..194I. doi:10.1038/370194a0.
  3. 1 2 Mike Irwin's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database, a service provided by Elsevier . (subscription required)
  4. ↑ Perlmutter, S.; Aldering, G.; Goldhaber, G.; Knop, R. A.; Nugent, P.; Castro, P. G.; Deustua, S.; Fabbro, S.; Goobar, A.; Groom, D. E.; Hook, I. M.; Kim, A. G.; Kim, M. Y.; Lee, J. C.; Nunes, N. J.; Pain, R.; Pennypacker, C. R.; Quimby, R.; Lidman, C.; Ellis, R. S.; Irwin, M.; McMahon, R. G.; Ruiz‐Lapuente, P.; Walton, N.; Schaefer, B.; Boyle, B. J.; Filippenko, A. V.; Matheson, T.; Fruchter, A. S.; et al. (1999). "Measurements of Ω and Λ from 42 High‐Redshift Supernovae". The Astrophysical Journal. 517 (2): 565. arXiv: astro-ph/9812133  Lock-green.svg. Bibcode:1999ApJ...517..565P. doi:10.1086/307221.
  5. ↑ Perlmutter, S.; Gabi, S.; Goldhaber, G.; Goobar, A.; Groom, D. E.; Hook, I. M.; Kim, A. G.; Kim, M. Y.; Lee, J. C.; Pain, R.; Pennypacker, C. R.; Small, I. A.; Ellis, R. S.; McMahon, R. G.; Boyle, B. J.; Bunclark, P. S.; Carter, D.; Irwin, M. J.; Glazebrook, K.; Newberg, H. J. M.; Filippenko, A. V.; Matheson, T.; Dopita, M.; Couch, W. J. (1997). "Measurements of the Cosmological Parameters Ω and Λ from the First Seven Supernovae atz≥ 0.35". The Astrophysical Journal. 483 (2): 565. arXiv: astro-ph/9608192  Lock-green.svg. Bibcode:1997ApJ...483..565P. doi:10.1086/304265.
  6. ↑ "Home page for Mike Irwin @ Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 2015-02-20.
  7. ↑ "RAS honours leading astronomers and geophysicists". Royal Astronomical Society. 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09.
  8. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.


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