Infrared	FanCam	CorMASS	TripleSpec	LMIRcam	2MASS	APOGEE	WISE	Visible

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Michael Skrutskie, Professor Email: skrutskie-att-virginia.edu Phone: (434) 924-4328 Fax: (434) 924-3104 Office: 262 Astronomy Building Address:    Department of Astronomy    P.O. Box 400325    530 McCormick Road    Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325

Current location of WISE

Curriculum Vitae 1987:   Ph.D., Cornell University 1987-2001:   Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 2001-:   Professor, University of Virginia Research Interests Infrared instrumentation Sky surveys (2MASS, WISE) Galactic structure and stellar populations Young Stellar Objects and Solar System Formation Low-mass stars and brown dwarfs Exoplanetary detection and characterization I direct a laboratory for the construction of cryogenic near-infrared detection systems. Instruments developed in recent years include the 256 × 256 element NICMOS3 HgCdTe camera (NICMASS), the 2MASS cameras, the CorMASS near-infrared spectrograph, and the R=3000 TripleSpec spectrograph which is a facility instrument at Apache Point Observatory. One of the 2MASS cameras remains active at the PAIRITEL automated infrared telescope facility at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona providing observers in the department quick access to automated observations of the near-infrared sky. The other 2MASS camera operates at the Kuiper 61" Telescope at Mt. Bigelow, Az, also available to department members through our allocation of time at Steward Observatory facilities. Beyond facilitating my research interests, this laboratory is intended to provide graduate students and undergraduates with hands-on experience with astronomical instrumentation. Current lab efforts include the operation and scientific use of Fan Mountain Infrared Camera operating at UVa's 31-inch telescope at Fan Mountain Observatory. This camera was designed, constructed and commissioned by students in the department. The laboratory has recently completed a mid-infrared (3-5um) imaging channel, LMIRcam, to support the University of Arizona's imaging interferometer at the Large Binocular Telescope. This instrument hold the exciting prospect of delivering 30 millarcsecond spatial resolution in the thermal infrared enabling direct imaging and spectroscopy of warm Jupiter analogs orbiting several AU from nearby stars. In parallel the laboratory has designed, fabricated and commissioned its most ambitious instrument to date - a 300-fiber high-resolution (R=22,000) 1.5-1.7um cryogenic spectrograph that is now conducting the APOGEE survey for the third-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III). The spectrograph will measure the elemental abundances in 100,000 Milky Way giant stars providing a window on the assembly history of the Milky Way. The laboratory also maintains facilities to test and characterize infrared arrays. For the last few years we have pursued an NSF-funded program with Goodrich Corporation - Sensors Unlimited to develop and evaluate extended wavelength (2.3um cutoff) InGaAs arrays capable of matching the performance of HgCdTe arrays in ground-based applications. This work has lead to the production of an extended InGaAs array bonded to a cryogenic "astronomical" multiplexer and has been tested in the CorMASS spectrograph. Course Home Pages Astro 121 - Intro. to the Sky and Solar System Astro 174 - Intro. to Astronomical Research - Major's Seminar Astro 197 - Hands on Optics: Telescope/Mirror Making Astro 512 - Optical/Infrared Instrumentation

Mr. Skrutskie directs a laboratory for the construction and application of instruments operating at near-infrared (1-5um) wavelengths. He was the principal investigator of the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and is now deeply involved in the space-based mid-infrared equivalent, WISE. Common scientific themes for both missions are the detection and characterization of sub-stellar objects (brown dwarfs) and delineating the structure of the Milky Way. The laboratory is currently building instruments for the world's largest telescope, the Large Binocular Telescope, and for the next generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Selected Recent Papers and Preprints A Two Micron All Sky Survey View of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy. I. Morphology of the Sagittarius Core and Tidal Arms, Majewski, Steven R., Skrutskie, M.F., Weinberg, M.D., Ostheimer, J.C 2003, ApJ, 599, p. 1082 Abstract Semiconductor fabrication techniques for producing an ultra-flat reflective slit, T.E. Vandervelde, M.J. Cabral, J. Wilson & M. Skrutskie, in Optomechanical Technologies for Astronomy, eds E. Attad-Ettedgui, J. Antebi and D. Lemke, 2006, SPIE, 6273 abstract Discovery of a Young Substellar Companion in Chamaeleon, K.L. Luhman, J.C. Wilson, W. Brandner, M.F. Skrutskie, M.J. Nelson, J.D. Smith, D.E. Peterson, M.C. Cushing & E. Young, 2006, ApJ, 649, 894 abstract The Mass and Structure of the Pleiades Star Cluster from 2MASS, Adams, Joseph D.; Stauffer, John R.; Monet, David G.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Beichman, Charles A. 2001, AJ, 121, p. 2053 Abstract CorMASS: A Compact and Efficient Near-Infrared Spectrograph for Studying Low-Mass Objects, Wilson, J. C.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Colonno, M. R.; Enos, A. T.; Smith, J. D.; Henderson, C. P.; Gizis, J. E.; Monet, D. G.; Houck, J. R. 2001, PASP, 113, p. 227 Abstract More publications...

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