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."


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


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

Mars Odyssey

Mars Express

Mars Rovers

Phoenix Mars Mission at U of AZ

Phoenix Mars Mission at JPL

Phoenix Mars Mission NASA HQ’s

 

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)

 

 

 

 

 


E-mail: