There have been a significant number of changes recently in both the scientific and technical staffs here in La Serena:
Chris Smith, a former CTIO postdoc presently holding the Mc Laughlin Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan, will join us as an Assistant Astronomer beginning in August. Chris has been a frequent visitor in recent years, carrying out a major emission-line imaging survey of the Magellanic Clouds with the Curtis Schmidt telescope. He has been in residence this southern summer as the director of our NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. We look forward to welcoming Chris and his wife Jacque back into the CTIO family.
We shall also be welcoming several new postdocs over the coming months. Stefanie Wachter and Don Hoard come to us from the University of Washington. Stefanie's thesis work was on observational aspects of accretion in low mass X-ray binaries. Previous to this, she received a Diploma in Physics from Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, for work on mass loss rates in O stars. At CTIO she plans to extend her work on binary systems to the formation processes of pre-main-sequence binaries. Don has also just completed his thesis, on the role of accretion in the observational properties of cataclysmic binaries, and will continue exploring accretion processes in astrophysics. Completing a "triple play" of new University of Washington PhDs, we will also be joined by Knut Olsen. His thesis uses HST WFPC2 observations of LMC clusters to study the star formation history of the LMC. This is related to the broad question of formation of dwarf galaxies. Knut will use CTIO facilities to work on the stellar populations of field dwarf galaxies.
Two of our present senior scientific staff are currently absent on sabbatical. Bob Schommer is visiting the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge (UK) for six months. He is working on data related to the High-Z Supernova Survey and the determination of cosmological parameters, and on age and metallicity measurements of star clusters in the LMC and M33. Bob reports that living in a centuries-old European university city is fascinating, while his family is rising to the challenge of the brisk English weather. Brooke Gregory is spending a year at Adaptive Optics Associates in Cambridge, MA. This company was founded in the days of Star Wars and was one of the pioneers in the development of AO in general and of the concept of laser guide stars in particular. Brooke is studying various aspects of AO technology. He has already had hands-on experience working with a new, low cost micromachined electrostatic deformable mirror and with AOA Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor and wavefront analyzing software. Brooke informs us that a centuries-old North American city is equally fascinating, and brisk!
Maxime (Max) Boccas arrived in April to fill the position of Optical Engineer recently vacated by John Filhaber. Max has been working in Australia at the University of New South Wales, building automatic telescopes to do IR astronomy at the south pole. Prior to that, he spent several years in Chile at ESO. His live coverage of the 1994 solar eclipse on Chilean TV, marked by his spontaneous expressions of excitement during totality, gave him nationwide fame as the "Oo-lah-lah Man." Max, wife Sofia, and two year old son Sebastian have settled into Casa 9 in the Recinto.
Marco Bonati, who had been a contract worker in the Electronics Engineering section of ETS, began a regular staff appointment in the Computer Applications Group on 1March. Marco's hire puts this group back up to strength after recent departures to Gemini and elsewhere. Marco will work primarily on Arcon-related matters in support of the Mosaic CCD imager project.
On the mountain, we have several new hires in Telescope Operations to provide telescope operators under contract to tenant projects. Mauricio Martínez and Danilo Castillo are observers for the USNO Southern Astrometric Survey. Danilo, a physics major from the University of La Serena, took part in the Summer 1998 REU program. Claudio Aguilera and Joselino Vásquez are doing the 2MASS observing. J.J. Pérez (ex La Silla) and María Teresa Acevedo are observers for the MACHO project on the 0.9-m. María Teresa studied fisheries management in Iquique before joining us to plumb the starry depths.
Together with all these "comings" there have been some "goings."
Assistant Director Mark Phillips, a former CTIO postdoc and a scientific staff member since 1978, is leaving at the end of May to become a Staff Astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He will be located at the offices of the Las Campanas Observatory in La Serena. Mark has been a leader and an inspiration to us here at CTIO. His scientific achievements in the field of AGN's and supernovae are recognized world-wide. The scientific prestige of the CTIO staff owes much to his scientific accomplishments and leadership here over the last 20 years. Mark's departure is a loss to CTIO, but the temptation to do more science with the twin 6.5-m Magellan telescopes is understandably strong. Fortunately we will continue to enjoy Mark's professional and personal presence in the astronomical and civic communities here in La Serena. We wish him well, and anticipate working together to further astronomy in the IV Region.
Research Associate Michael Keane is leaving in May to take a position with Raytheon Optical Systems (formerly Hughes Danbury) as a Senior Systems Engineer. Michael will be working in a group which has the technical leadership role in advanced optical systems, including a number of exciting astronomical applications. Michael, Khrystyne, and a menagerie of cats and dogs have been delightful friends and neighbors for almost three years. Their most memorable "souvenir" of Chile is undoubtedly little Lynn Francis, born in La Serena six months ago.
Long time member of the Computer Applications Group, Dan Smith, has left CTIO after 12 years to start a new career. Dan has relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he operates a video photography service. This grew out of a hobby interest; those who were here for the Blanco telescope dedication will recall the wonderful "video photo album" Dan created as an honor and gift to the Blancos. Dan and Janet, former residents of Buffalo, NY, say they have introduced their Serenense sons Taylor and Adam to the joys of snow during the Virginia winter.
Finally, applications programmer Pedro Gigoux left CTIO for Gemini and Hawaii at the end of March. Pedro joins a growing number of ex-Tololinos who are working to commission the Gemini North telescope, with the intention of returning home to do the same for Gemini South. While we regret losing Pedro's skills and cheerful presence, at least for a few years, this is another mark of the growing interconnection between CTIO and US participation in Gemini under the new AURA Observatory umbrella.
Malcolm Smith (msmith@noao.edu)