Professor Terry Herter

=== A picture of me should have been here. ===

Hi there. I thought you might like to know a bit about me. I'm a member of the Astronomy Department at Cornell. As an astronomer my main areas of interest include:

  1. The center of our galaxy,
  2. Normal and starburst galaxies, and
  3. Disks around stars.

In the recent past I've also studied HII (ionized hydrogen) regions and planetary nebulae. From time to time, I've dabbled in planetary astronomy, observing planets, moons and comets. I am Principal Investigator on a first light instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The instrument, called FORCAST, is a camera that will be used to image star formation regions, other galaxies, and other science targets. SOFIA is scheduled to begin operations in late 2006 or early 2007.

I am also involved in the development and testing of infrared arrays for ground-based, airborne, and space-based astronomy, and I am a co-investigator on the Infrared Spectrograph, an instrument for the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer). Spitzer launched on Aug. 25, 2003. Go to the Spitzer link for the lastest news.

I am also involved in an effort by Cornell to build a large sub-mm telescope in the high Atacama desert of Northern Chile and serve on a national committee (the GSMT-SWG) summarizing the scientific potential of large groundbased telescopes.

I also enjoyed some special observing trips before the shutdown of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). The KAO was the predecessor to SOFIA.

  1. Observing the galactic center with KAO from Christchurch, NZ in May '95. We observed an ionic species of silicon to study the dynamics of the circumnuclear ring of gas and dust which rotates about the core of our galaxy.
  2. Observing the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in July '94 with KAO on flights from Melbourne, Australia. Our instrument detected water resulting from the impact.

Some fun events include:

  1. A summer trip to Newfoundland with hiking in Gros Morne (Big Gloomy) National Park, visiting the Viking site on the northern peninsula, and meeting the people who live there. Cape Spear, Newfoundland is the eastern most point in North America. We traveled through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the way there and back, stopping at the Bay of Fundy which has the largest tides in the world and visiting some quirky sites like the largest axe and the longest covered bridge in the world.
  2. Visiting Scotland and trekking through a few castles (Sterling and Urquhart), walking along Hadrian's wall, and hiking to the "Old Man of Storr" (a large rock outcropping) on the Isle of Skye.
  3. Performing a site survey in Northern Chile for potential telescope locations - we're talking greater than 5000 m (16400 ft) - and it's a real desert.
  4. Visiting the Kelso sand dunes in Southern California. They vibrate when you walk down them!
  5. Traveling to England and visiting the great stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury! It was damp, cloudy, and breezy -- but what else would you expect for such a place.
  6. Hiking to the summit of Stawberry Peak which is in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. It's not too high but a lot of fun because of the moderate level rock climbing/bouldering.
  7. Backpacking into San Jacinto National Forest from Idyllwild. It rained during the trek in but the precipitation washed away the smog and haze from the valleys. The skies cleared the next day making the view from the top of Mt. San Jacinto extraordinary.

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