I am pleased to report that Samuel Barden (NOAO), has been awarded the 1998 Maria and Eric Muhlmann Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). The Muhlmann Award is given for innovative advances in astronomical instrumentation, software, or observational infrastructure that enable significant astronomical discoveries. The award to Barden recognizes his pioneering use of optical fibers with astronomical spectrometers.
For Kitt Peak National Observatory, Barden led the development of the Hydra Multi-Fiber Positioner, which enables simultaneous observation of up to 100 sources, thus significantly increasing the efficiency of astronomical spectroscopic observations.
Hydra and its associated bench-mounted spectrometer were designed and built by a team of astronomers and engineers at NOAO in Tucson under Barden's leadership. Hydra was first tested on the KPNO Mayall 4-meter Telescope in 1991. For three years, it was the most used instrument on this telescope. In the summer of 1994, Hydra was removed from the Mayall 4-m and rebuilt as the prime facility instrument on the new, 3.5m WIYN Telescope on Kitt Peak. Scientific research with Hydra resumed at WIYN in 1995. Barden is now working with NOAO engineers to construct a duplicate of WIYN Hydra for use at Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory beginning in 1999.
The Muhlmann Award was presented to Barden on 29 June at the Summer Meeting of the ASP in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Sidney C. Wolff