User:Thparkth/IPG

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. Ian P. Griffin is the British director of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, in Manchester, UK. He is the former head of public outreach at NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute. Griff in is a professional astronomer and a prominent spokesman for science.

Dr Ian P. Griffin at the Space Telescope Science Institute. NASA image.

[edit] Biographical Information

Griffin began his career at University College London where he decided to pursue a career combining both astronomical research and public outreach. He was director of the Armagh Planetarium from 1990 to 1995. He then worked at John Hopkins University in the USA and Mount John Observatory in New Zealand before accepting the position as head of public outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA. ^[1].

In 2004, Griffin became director of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry where he continues to work. ^[2]

[edit] Significant Achievements

Griffin contributed to the observation and study of a scientifically significant binary asteroid system, known as 1998 WW31 ^[3]. This was only the second such binary system discovered in our solar system (the other being the Pluto and Charon system) and provided valuable data helping astronomers understand the mass and behaviour of other asteroids and planets. ^[4]

[edit] References

1. ↑  Trifourki, Sotira (Manchester Astronomical Society) (2005). Observing Solar System Objects with the Hubble Space Telescope (http). Retrieved on Jan 18, 2006.
2. ↑  Ottewell, David. "Science museum lands space ace", Manchester News, 14th January 2004.
3. ↑  Christian Veillet, Joel Wm. Parker et al (2002). "The binary Kuiper-belt object 1998 WW31". Nature 416 (18 April 2002): 711–713.
4. ↑   ‹Template:press release reference has been deprecated.›