BACKGROUND

• EDUCATION

  • Yale, Ph.D., Astronomy, 1967
  • Yale, M.S., Astronomy, 1964 [N.B.: degrees earned prior to Yale's awarding honorary degrees to Bushes I & II]
  • Columbia, A.B., 1961
  • Bronx H.S. of Science, 1957

  My graduate training was primarily in observational astronomy, especially in the observation and modeling of binary star systems and other variable stars.
  I am privileged to have had instruction at Yale from two of the finest people I have known: the late Harlan J. Smith, a paragon teacher, Director of the McDonald Observatory, Chairman of the Astronomy Department of the University of Texas, and the discoverer of the dwarf cepheid class of variable stars; and the late Adriaan J. Wesselink, a kind and modest person, my thesis advisor, and originator of the Wesselink Method (to find the radius of a Cepheid variable), which he referred to as the 'Baade-Wesselink Method.' It is to Professor Wesselink that I owe my interest in precision instrumentation, an interest that led to the Rapid Alternate Detection System (RADS), discussed under Instrumentation & Techniques and below. It is also to him that I owe my interest in binary stars (Prof. Wesselink's Ph.D. thesis was on the optical, eclipsing and cluster binary star system SZ Cam). A third mentor, Richard Tousey, former Head of the Rocket and Spectroscopy Branch of NRL's Space Science Division, helped me to gain confidence and to grow as a scientist during my early post-doctoral years.

  My undergraduate training at Columbia was in mathematics, with nearly as much course work in physics, astronomy, philosophy, and religion. This multidisciplinary background has made me aware of the many paths we have to better understand the universe in which we live, and move, and have our being. It has found expression academically through the introduction of historical and philosophical background issues in all my courses and particularly in the development of the Archaeoastronomy course (see 'Teaching', below), undertaken over a span of nearly thirty years with archaeology Professor Emeritus David H. Kelley, recently deceased. The Columbia instructors who made the strongest impression were: my Contemporary Civilization instructor, Frank F. Wekerle, Astronomy professors Jan Schilt, Isidore Epstein, and Lloyd Motz, and Physics professors Polycarp Kusch and Leon Lederman, and Shirley Quimby.

  For further background particulars, click here!:

• CV

• RECENT PUBLICATIONS

RESEARCH PROGRAMS & PROJECTS

Note that these projects center around interest in fundamental properties of stars and the conditions affecting stellar and cluster evolution. Since the best modeling requires the best possible data, we have developed a number of improvements in instrumentation and techniques over the years. These are discussed under the research area headings and under 'Astronomical Instrumentation & Techniques'.

Overall Research Aims

Specific contributions by our groups are:

• the improvement of solution methods and programs to yield more accurate and precise light and radial velocity curve parameters;
• the Rapid Alternate Detection System (RADS); and
• the continuing improvement of broadband infrared photometry, potentially the source of the most precise photometry of all ground-accessible spectral regions, by the design of new passbands (the IRWG set, the near IR portion of which has been field tested);
• the development of the Baker Nunn Patrol Camera to survey selected areas around the sky for variable stars;
• the use of these developments to get and analyze light curves of variable stars to obtain fundamental properties.
• the application of these fundamental properties to test the structure and evolution of stars. Despite much progress in the past quarter century, the data currently need improvement to challenge the latest theoretical developments.

During the course of work on these objectives, one particular area was identified as requiring special attention: improved modeling of the spectral distribution of the flux from targeted eclipsing binary stars. The success of stellar evolution studies is critically dependent on progress in this area, because the modeling of light curves is a prime tool in obtaining fundamental parameters of stars. For the June 1997 AAS meeting, I organized a special topics session (No. 22 with associated poster session, No. 31) on Binary Stars: New light Curve and Modeling Developments . To review the abstracts of the papers presented, hit this button:

1997 AAS Topical Meeting abstracts

My general areas of research are described in the following links:

Light Curve Analysis

Optical & Infrared Photometry

Variable Stars

Astronomical instrumentation & techniques

Thanks mainly to the generosity of Dr. A. R. (Sandy) Cross, a large part of my contributions to the last area has been done right here in Calgary, at the University of Calgary's observatory, the RAO, located in Priddis, Alberta. He not only provided the land for the observatory and a quarter section besides (which helps fund plant upkeep and prevents the RAO's maintenance from being a burden), but also helped out at critical moments throughout the development period. In the past few years, I have been Principal Investigator on two provincial grants, which, with matching funding (some of it from Sandy himself), brought about $740,000 to the restoration of the research infrastructure, educational and research communications capability, and science and awareness outreach through an enhanced Open House program. On this upbeat note, on Sept. 1, 2004 I stepped down as RAO director, after nearly a third of a century of stewardship, most of it as Co-Director, with Professor Emeritus T. A. Clark. Dr. Rene Plume, Associate Director for the previous two years, accepted the role of Acting Director; he served for another year as director. In 2006, Dr. Philip Langill became director.


In September 2005, I formally retired from the University as a paid employee, but have been fortunate enough to receive a Faculty Professorship designation, to be able to carry on as before (but without undergraduate teaching). I am still interested in supervising both graduate and undergraduate students.


Some details about the history and development of the RAO are to be found at:


THE ROTHNEY ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (RAO)

For details about current operations at the RAO, please consult:

the New RAO site

Being relieved of what became a heavy burden in recent years, directorship of the RAO, as well as teaching undergraduate courses, I now have some quality time to pursue my research interests as well as complete my writing commitments, and do something new. Some of these interests can be found at the Milone-linked sites:


VARIABLE STAR PROGRAMS

LIGHT CURVE MODELING PROGRAMS

OPTICAL & INFRARED PHOTOMETRY

IRWG

TEACHING (yes, despite what I say above!)

and, my new interest, singing in a wonderful and interesting choral group:


Calgary Lutheran Chorale

Number of visitors to this site to date: times since October 2004.