Daniel Batcheldor
| Daniel Batcheldor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978 |
| Residence | Florida, United States |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Astronomy, Astrophysics |
| Institutions |
University of Hertfordshire Rochester Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology |
| Alma mater | University of Hertfordshire |
| Doctoral advisor | David Axon |
| Doctoral students | Isaac Silver, Raad Foadi |
Daniel Batcheldor (born 1978) is a British astrophysicist specialising in extreme contrast ratio imaging. He is a professor at Florida Institute of Technology, Head of the Department of Physics and Space Sciences, Director of the Olin Observatory, and Director of the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope.
Early life and Education
Daniel Batcheldor was born in Trowbridge in the county of Wiltshire, England. In 1986 his family moved from the village of Holt to village of Bathampton in the county of Somerset. He attended King Edward's School, Bath at Broad Street and North Road, and served in the HQ company of the 6th Battalion Light Infantry Army Reserve (reformed in 2007 to The Rifles) between 1995 and 1998.
In 2000 he served as a student support astronomer at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes with responsibilities for the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope.[1] He received a bachelor’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Hertfordshire in 2001, and in 2004 he completed his Ph.D. at the same institution under the direction of David Axon.
Career
In 2004 Batcheldor moved to a research position at Rochester Institute of Technology where he also taught Physics. In 2010 he moved to a faculty position at Florida Institute of Technology and became the Director of the Olin Observatory.[2]
In 2014 he took up his current position as Head of the Department of Physics and Space Sciences at Florida Institute of Technology.[3]
Contributions
Astrophysics
Batcheldor is a leading expert in the field of supermassive black holes and their relationships with galaxies. His scientific accomplishments include the quantification of selection effects in the M–σ relation.,[4] the demonstration of low signal-to-noise data in published supermassive black holes mass estimates as well as comparative supermassive black holes mass measurements,[5][6] and the discovery of a spatially offset supermassive black hole in the galaxy Messier 87.[7][8]
Instrumentation
Batcheldor led the efforts to calibrate the NICMOS instrument on board the Hubble Space Telescope to enable imaging polarimetry at the level of 1%.[9][10]
In 2012 he began efforts to bring back to operational status the 1.0-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope that had been taken out of service in 2003. This facility is now a remote observatory operated by the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA).[1] Batcheldor is the principal investigator for the SpectraCAM charge injection device payload scheduled to be tested on the NanoRacks External Platform on the International Space Station.[11][12]
References
- 1 2 "Florida Tech To Use Telescope In The Canary Islands". Space Coast Daily.
- ↑ "'Fiery object' seen in Palm Bay may never be solved". Florida Today. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ "Are lightning strikes becoming more common?". CBS News. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ Batcheldor, D. (2010), The M-σ Relation Derived from Sphere of Influence Arguments, Astrophysical Journal Letters., 711, 108.
- ↑ Batcheldor, D.; Axon, D.; Valluri, M.; Mandalou, J.; Merritt, D. (2013), O An STIS Atlas of Ca II Triplet Absorption Line Kinematics in Galactic Nuclei, Astronomical Journal., 146, 67.
- ↑ Grossman, Lisa. "Black Hole Found in Unexpected Place". Wired.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ "M87's black holes gets its kicks from merger". Astronomy Now. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ Batcheldor, D.; Robinson, A.; Axon, D. J.; Perlman, E. S.; Merritt, D. (2010), A Displaced Supermassive Black Hole in M87, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 717, 6.
- ↑ Batcheldor, D.; Schneider, G.; Hines, D. C.; Schmidt, G. D.; Axon, D. J.; Robinson, A.; Sparks, W.; Tadhunter, C. (2009), High-Accuracy Near-infrared Imaging Polarimetry with NICMOS, Pub. Ast. Soc. Pacific, 121, 153.
- ↑ "Imaging technique may help discover Earth-like planets". Phys.org. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ "NanoRacks External Platform Customers Prepping for ISS". NanoRacks. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ "NanoRacks Aims To Offer Research Accommodations on ISS Exterior by Year's End". SpaceNews. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2016.