Gerard van Belle

Gerard van Belle
Born 30 October 1968 (1968-10-30) (age 43)
Tallahassee, Florida
Residence USA
Nationality USA
Fields Astronomy
Institutions Lowell, ESO, Caltech, JPL
Alma mater University of Wyoming, Johns Hopkins University, Whitman College
Doctoral advisor H. Mel Dyck
Known for The use of optical interferometry in studies of the stellar structure and detection of extrasolar planets.

Gerard Theodore van Belle (born 1968, in Tallahassee, FL) is an American astronomer. He received a bachelor's degree in physics from Whitman College in 1990, a master's in physics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1993, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wyoming in 1996.

Dr. van Belle is an expert in near-infrared interferometry, and has utilized this technique to measure the sizes of hundreds of nearby stars[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] .[6] The first direct measurement of stellar shape was carried out by a team led by him using the Palomar Testbed Interferometer to make observations of the rapidly rotating star Altair.[7] Dr. van Belle has also contributed to practical considerations of operating astronomical interferometers, particularly regarding considerations of calibration of these complicated instruments[8] [9] .[10]

After schooling, Dr. van Belle took a position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an instrument architect for NASA's Keck Interferometer, and later joined the Michelson Science Center (now NASA Exoplanet Science Institute) at Caltech in 2003. He has participated in the commissioning of the Palomar Testbed Interferometer, and the CHARA Array. In 2007, he became a member of the astronomy faculty at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and instrument scientist for the PRIMA instrument of ESO's VLTI facility; later in early 2011 he was also appointed instrument scientist for the MATISSE instrument of the VLTI. Since August 2011 he has been a member of the astronomer faculty at Lowell Observatory.

References

  1. ^ Dyck, H. M., van Belle, G. T., & Benson, J. A. (1996). "Angular Diameters and Effective Temperatures of Carbon Stars". Astronomical Journal 112: 294. Bibcode 1996AJ....112..294D. doi:10.1086/118014. 
  2. ^ van Belle, G. T., et al. (1996). "Angular Size Measurements of 18 Mira Variable Stars at 2.2 microns". Astronomical Journal 112: 2147. Bibcode 1996AJ....112.2147V. doi:10.1086/118170. 
  3. ^ van Belle, G. T., et al. (1997). "Angular Size Measurements of Carbon Miras and S-Type Stars". Astronomical Journal 114: 2150. Bibcode 1997AJ....114.2150V. doi:10.1086/118635. 
  4. ^ van Belle, G.T., et al. (1999). "Radii and Effective Temperatures for G, K, and M Giants and Supergiants". The Astronomical Journal 117 (1): 521. Bibcode 1999AJ....117..521V. doi:10.1086/300677. 
  5. ^ van Belle, G.T. et al. (2009). "Supergiant temperatures and linear radii from near-infrared interferometry". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 394 (4): 1925. Bibcode 2009MNRAS.394.1925V. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14146.x. 
  6. ^ van Belle, G. T., & von Braun, K. (2009). "Directly Determined Linear Radii and Effective Temperatures of Exoplanet Host Stars". Astrophysical Journal 694 (2): 1085. Bibcode 2009ApJ...694.1085V. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/1085. 
  7. ^ van Belle, G. T., et al. (2001). "Altair's Oblateness and Rotation Velocity from Long-Baseline Interferometry". Astrophysical Journal 559 (2): 1155. Bibcode 2001ApJ...559.1155V. doi:10.1086/322340. 
  8. ^ van Belle, G. T. (1999). "Predicting Stellar Angular Sizes". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 111 (766): 1515. arXiv:astro-ph/9904295. Bibcode 1999PASP..111.1515V. doi:10.1086/316462. 
  9. ^ van Belle, G. T., & van Belle, G. (2005). "Establishing Visible Interferometer System Responses: Resolved and Unresolved Calibrators". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 117 (837): 1263. arXiv:astro-ph/0508266. Bibcode 2005PASP..117.1263V. doi:10.1086/449603. 
  10. ^ van Belle, G. T., et al. (2008). "The Palomar Testbed Interferometer Calibrator Catalog". Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 176 (1): 276. Bibcode 2008ApJS..176..276V. doi:10.1086/526548.