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News Tip

 


April 23, 2001

For more information on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of each item at (703) 292-8070. Editor: Tom Garritano

Tracking the Night Sky: Cameras Make it Easy

Anyone with web access can view the night sky live through a wide-angle lens, thanks to rooftop cameras being installed at astronomical observatories in the United States and overseas. The cameras, dubbed CONCAMs, will create a continuous record of the sky -- contributing scientific data and allowing students, teachers and astronomers to track changes over time.

"The pictures are a valuable tool for anyone studying bright stars and bright transient phenomena such as meteors," said Robert Nemiroff, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported astronomer at Michigan Technological University who led the camera development. Nemiroff is known as one of the creators of the popular NSF-supported website, "Astronomy Picture of the Day."

The portable instruments consist of a Fisheye lens, CCD camera and laptop computer in a suitcase-sized weatherproof case, designed to be bolted to a rooftop and connected to a power supply and Ethernet.

The first instrument, installed at NSF’s Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, has been recording the night sky since May 2000. It has documented several unanticipated events, including the spectacular March 31 aurorae, rarely seen so far south. Another CONCAM is operating at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, and others are planned for Mt. Wilson Observatory in California and for Utah, Israel and Argentina. [Amber Jones]

For more information see: http://www.concam.net
For Astronomy Picture of the Day, see: http://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov

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Blind Scholar Earns Multiple Honors, Shows Promise in Mathematics

Penn State University senior Zachary Battles has been blind since infancy. But that hasn't stopped him from achieving academic excellence and participating in NSF-funded research projects side-by-side with professional mathematicians.

As the university's undergraduate mathematics director, NSF grantee Maria-Carme Calderer encouraged Battles to expand his computer science studies to include math. Last year, she sponsored him in an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates summer program, in which Battles researched the theory of partitions under the direction of Penn State mathematician George Andrews.

This spring Battles will graduate with bachelor degrees in mathematics and computer science and an interdisciplinary master’s degree. Next fall he will study at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. Battles has also been awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

"I have mentored Zachary for a long time, and I am sure he will make significant contributions to mathematical research," said Calderer. At Oxford, Battles will enter a Ph.D. program and study numerical analysis, developing methods for solving mathematical problems using computers. [Amber Jones]

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Temperature of Earth's Highest Polar Clouds Measured for First Time

NSF-supported scientists have, for the first time, measured upper atmosphere temperatures and "mesospheric" clouds (the highest on Earth) over the North and South Poles. In the April 1 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, University of Illinois researchers report using a sensitive lidar (radarlike laser) system for measuring temperature profiles from the middle of the stratosphere (about 20 miles up) to the lower thermosphere (about 70 miles above Earth).

The system uses two powerful lasers operating in the near-ultraviolet region of the spectrum, and two telescopes to detect the laser pulses reflected from the atmosphere. It is based on lidar technology that was first deployed over Okinawa, Japan, on an NSF research aircraft to observe meteor trails during the 1998 Leonid meteor shower.

"Measuring temperature profiles over the poles is essential for validating global circulation models and for providing a baseline for assessing the impact of global warming over the coming decades," explains Chester Gardner, an electrical and computer engineer at the University of Illinois. "Until now, we were limited to measurements taken with balloon-borne sensors to altitudes of less than 20 miles [32 kilometers]."

Gardner and his colleagues developed the new lidar system in collaboration with scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and The Aerospace Corporation. [Cheryl Dybas]

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-NSF-

NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of nearly $4.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states, through grants to about 1,800 universities and institutions nationwide. Each year, NSF receives about 30,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 10,000 new funding awards.

 

 
 
     
 

 
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