Michael L. Sitko
Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati
"Leadership derives from strength of character, not opinion polls and focus groups. The other should be called followership."
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My interests center around the nature of
interstellar, circumstellar, and interplanetary
dust grains, and the role they play in the formation of planetary systems. In
the past few years I have been investigating the emission characteristics of
the grains in the dusty disks surrounding young stars, and how they are
evolving as the stellar systems age. The particle sizes and compositions are
being compared to those of the diffuse interstellar medium, cometary grains of our own solar system, and dust grains
condensed in the laboratory. Most of my recent observational work has been
carried out with the Broadband Array Spectrograph System (BASS) of The
Aerospace Corporation on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility.
What’s the life of an astronomer really like? To see what a typical observing session at the IRTF is like, go here, or see another group’s video
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A Short Vita
Archive of Published Mid-IR Spectra and Mike's SpeX Data
Reduction Manual (v2) (34 MB pdf)
ADS
Search of All of My Publications
ADS
Search of My Refereed Publications
Scientific Background: The Formation and Evolution of
Solar Systems
Astronomy at UC
Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
In 2005 I
also became an off-site employee of the Space Science Institute.
Web Sites for Some Important
Planetary Missions
Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter
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Mars Odyssey
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Mars Express
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Mars Rovers
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Phoenix Mars Mission at U of AZ
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Phoenix Mars Mission at
JPL
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Phoenix Mars Mission
NASA HQ’s
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Messenger to Mercury
Stardust - The First Comet
Sample Return Mission
Rosetta - Landing
on a Comet
New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper
Belt Probe
Cassini Mission to Saturn
Venus Express
Dawn - mission to Ceres & Vesta
Web Sites
for Some Important Space Astronomy Missions
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Spitzer Space Telescope
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Kepler is
discovering exoplanets!
Numerous young stars show
spectroscopic evidence for what would seem to be stargrazing
comets. Such objects were routinely observed hitting the Sun, using coronagraphic images taken by the SOHO satellite. The solar
system today is very empty compared to these other systems, and the collision
rate much lower by many orders of magnitude
Sungrazing Comets Observed with SOHO – 1000 Comets, and counting……
The Cincinnati Observatory Center
The
country's oldest operating observatory is right here in Cincinnati.
Astronomy Picture of the
Day
2003 UB313 - 10th Planet or Kuiper Belt Object? - You Decide
Teaching Pigs to Sing – By Harriet Hall (reprinted with permission of the author & Skeptical Inquirer)
Cargo Cult Science – from Richard P. Feynman’s “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman”
Judging Books by their Covers – another amusing tale from Feynman
Astronomy: Stars and Galaxies - Winter 2006
Reflectance
Spectroscopy - Introduction to the ALTA Spectrometer
Astronomy: Life
in the Universe Winter 2008
Astronomy: Life in the Universe Spring 2008 Syllabus
Astronomy: Life in
the Universe Spring 2009 Syllabus
Advanced Topics in Astronomy (341) Spring 2004
Advanced Topics in Astronomy (341) Spring 2007
Astrophysics-I
(521&821)
Fall
2009 Syllabus
Astrophysics-II
(522&822) Winter 2009 Syllabus
Summer 2007 Seminar on Cosmic Dust
Summer 2004 lecture on SETI
Great Women in Astronomy and Other Stuff
Recent
Representative Papers:
“Revealing the Structure of a
Pre-Transitional Disk: The Case of the Herbig F Star
SAO 206462 (HD 135344B)”, C. A. Grady, G. Schneider, M. L. Sitko, G. M. Williger, K. Hamaguchi, S. D. Brittain, K. Ablordeppey, D. Apai, L. Beerman, W. J.
Carpenter, K. A. Collins, M. Fukagawa, H. B. Hammel, Th. Henning, D. Hines, R. Kimes,
D. K. Lynch, F. Ménard, R. Pearson, R. W. Russell, M.
Silverstone, P. S. Smith, M. Troutman, D. Wilner, B. Woodgate, and M. Clampin, ApJ, 699, 1822. (pdf)
“HD 100453: A Link
Between Gas-Rich Protoplanetary Disks and Gas-Poor
Debris Disks”, K.A. Collins, C.A. Grady, K. Hamaguchi,
J.P. Wisniewski, S. Brittain, M. Sitko,
W.J. Carpenter, J.P. Williams, G.S. Matthews, G.M. Williger,
R. van Boekel, A. Carmona, Th. henning,
M.E. van den Ancker, G. Meeus,
X.P. Chen. R. Petre, & B.E. Woodgate,
ApJ 697, 557 (2009). (pdf)
“Ultraviolet
Spectroscopy of HD 44179”, M.L. Sitko, L.S.
Bernstein, and R.J. Glinski, ApJ, 680,
1426-1437 (2008). (pdf)
“Variability of
Disk Emission in Pre-Main Sequence and Related Stars. I. HD 31648 and HD 163296
- Isolated Herbig Ae Stars
Driving Herbig-Haro Flows”, M.L. Sitko,
W.J. Carpenter, R.L. Kimes, J.L. Wilde, D.K. Lynch,
R.W. Russell, R.J. Rudy, S.M. Mazuk, and C.C. Venturini, R.C. Puetter, C.A.
Grady, E.F. Polomski, J.P. Wisnewski,
S.M. Brafford, H. B. Hammel,
R.B. Perry, ApJ, 678, 1070-1087 (2008). (pdf)
