April 23, 2001
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story tips, please contact the public information
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Editor: Tom Garritano
Contents of this News Tip:
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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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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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 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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