Faculty Directory
| Department Chair: Raja Guha Thakurta | Department Manager: Abby Campbell Wong |
| Associate Chair: Ruth Murray-Clay | Graduate Advisor: Lindsay Lauver |
| Associate Chair and Undergraduate Program Director: Jonathan Fortney | Administrative Assistant: Margaret Mattson |
| Graduate Program: Jonathan Fortney | Administrative Assistant, Astrobiology Institute: Deana Tanguay |
- Title
- Emeritus Distinguished Professor/Astronomer
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Division Physical & Biological Sciences
- Department
- Astronomy & Astrophysics Department
- UC Observatories
- Phone 831-459-2151
- Website
- Office Location
- ISB 343
- Mail Stop UCO / Lick Observatory
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Astronomy, Astrophysics
Research Interests
My current research is focussed on the detection and characterization of planets around nearby stars. This work involves using high resolution spectroscopy on large telescopes to obtain meter/second precision radial velocities, through which planets can be detected, sensing the reflex barycentric motion of their host star. I also do a lot if instrumentation development in support of this research. I am in the latter stages of commissioning a 2.4-m Automated Planet Finder telescope atop Mt. Hamilton, and am also working on an early-light spectrometer called MTHR for the Thirty-Meter Telescope.
Biography, Education and Training
A.B., Physics, U.C. Berkeley, 1972
A.B., Astronomy, U.C. Berkeley, 1972
M.S., Astronomy, U. of Texas at Austin, 1976
Ph.D., Astronomy, U. of Texas at Austin, 1978
