Zoltan Balog

Zoltán Balog, PhD (b. 1972 Szolnok, Hungary - ) is an astronomer with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany.[1] In 2006, while at the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, Dr. Balog's team was the first to observe the complete process of photoevaporation of protoplanetary disks.[2]

Contents

Observations

Balog's team was the first to observe protoplanetary disk photoevaporation and the resulting dust tail[3] using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The resulting paper was published in Astrophysical Journal.[4] Balog's collaborators and co-authors are astronomers James Muzerolle, Erick T. Young, George Rieke and Kate Su,[5] all of the University of Arizona at Tucson.

Balog is a member of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) Guaranteed Time Oberservation (GTO) team led by Dr. George Rieke.

Photoevaporation

see main article Photo evaporation
Photoevaporation results when an extremely large star's radiation energy evaporates and literally blows away a protoplanetary disk (a mass concentration of gas and dust) in a process similar to that which forms a comet's tail. This process may explain why solar systems which have strayed too close to very large stars are often planetless.

Publications

He earned his PhD in Physics in 2005 from the University of Szeged, Hungary. An updated bibliography may be found here [1]

References

  1. ^ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Zoltan Balogh retrieved 18 Aug, 2010
  2. ^ Linda Vu, Spitzer Science Center (3 Oct, 2006) Planets Prefer Safe Neighborhoods retrieved 18 Aug, 2010
  3. ^ Spitzer Space Telescope Image (5 Oct, 2006) retrieved 8 Jan, 2007
  4. ^ Abstract of Paper: Spitzer MIPS 24 μm Detection of Photoevaporating Protoplanetary Disks (Oct, 2006) retrieved 8 Jan, 2007
  5. ^ The University of Arizona Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory (5 Oct, 2006) retrieved 8 Jan, 2007