Daniel W. Weedman
Senior Research Associate and Adjunct Professor of Astronomy
B.A., 1964 (Physics and Astronomy) Vanderbilt University
Ph.D., 1967 (Astronomy) University of Wisconsin
Campus Address:
107 Space Sciences Building
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Email: dweedman at isc.astro.cornell.edu
Phone: 607-255-2986
Specialty Areas: Infrared and Optical Astronomy
Research Projects: Spitzer: Operation Phase of the Infrared Spectrometer of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility.
Biography:
Daniel Wilson Weedman is currently a Senior Research Associate and Adjunct Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, analyzing observations by the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. He assumed the Cornell appointment in 2002, after three years within the Division of Astronomical Sciences at the National Science Foundation (1999-2002) where he was Program Director for the National Optical Astronomy Observatories and for the National Solar Observatory. Prior to joining NSF in 1999, he was Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania since 1978.
While on leave from Penn State, he served two years (1993-1995) as Director of the Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington D.C., as a member of the federal Senior Executive Service. In that position, he was responsible for overseeing planning, development, and operations for all NASA astrophysics missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and various infrared missions including starts for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (now Spitzer). Previously, he spent two years (1990-1992) on leave at NASA Headquarters as Visiting Senior Scientist in the Infrared Branch of the Astrophysics Division, working as program scientist for the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Infrared Space Observatory.
Weedman has held faculty appointments at the University of Texas (Austin), Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) and the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) before joining Penn State in 1979.
Dr. Weedman has published over 150 research papers in various areas of astronomy and astrophysics. Highlights of his research career include the first studies of the gas motions in giant hydrogen nebulae, the initial spectroscopic and photometric observations of the Markarian galaxies, the development of the original spectroscopic classification for active galactic nuclei (type 1 and type 2 Seyfert galaxies), development of nuclear magnitude measurements of galaxies as a measure of the Hubble flow, extensive surveys for highly redshifted quasars and determination of their luminosity function, initial definition of Starburst Galaxies, initial suggestion of contribution by starburst galaxies to the extragalactic X-ray background, and discovery of the best candidate quasar pair for gravitational lensing by dark matter. His book Quasar Astronomy (Cambridge University Press, 1986) is a summary of the research techniques and accomplishments in the study of quasars.
His current research with Spitzer emphasizes the discovery of dust-enshrouded galaxies and quasars in the early universe.
As an award-winning teacher over a 30 year period, he has conducted classes at various levels of astronomy and astrophysics, enrolling nearly 8,000 undergraduates and 80 graduate students at four different universities. He also has extensive experience in the design and use of ground based and space astronomical facilities. He was the original conceptual designer of the Spectroscopic Survey Telescope, now the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory in Texas, and reproduced as the Southern African Large Telescope. He was one of the initial members of the CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) team for NASA's Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (now the Chandra X-Ray Observatory) and was an initial team member for the Spitzer IRS.
Selected Publications:
Star Formation Rates for Starburst Galaxies from Ultraviolet, Infrared, and Radio Luminosities. L.A. Sargsyan and D.W. Weedman, 2009, Astrophysical Journal, 702, in press.
Evolution of the Most Luminous Dusty Galaxies. D.W. Weedman and J.R. Houck, 2009, Astrophysical Journal, 698, 1682
Average Infrared Galaxy Spectra from Spitzer Flux-Limited Samples. D.W. Weedman and J.R. Houck, 2009, Astrophysical Journal, 693, 370.
The Most Luminous Starbursts in the Universe. D.W. Weedman and J.R. Houck, 2008, Astrophysical Journal, 686, 127.
Last updated: July 2009
