People
The Department of Astronomy family at the University of
Florida is formed by an excellent group of people among which we find Faculty, Staff,
Post-Docs, Graduate
Students, Undergraduate
Students
and Alumni.
| Haywood Smith, Jr. Associate Professor PhD 1972 (U of Virginia) www.astro.ufl.edu/~hsmith/ 324 Bryant Space Science Center (352) 392 2052 (236)  |
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Areas of Specialty
Distance scale and luminosity calibration using astrometric data, especially trigonometric parallaxes; biases in calibration; statistical astronomy.
Research Interests
I am interested in the methodology of using trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions to calibrate distance scales, including but not limited to those based on mean absolute magnitudes. My aim is to understand and to elucidate the various biases that arise with the selection and analysis of these data, such as the so-called Lutz-Kelker bias. Most recently I have been working on the problem of statistical distance scales for the planetary nebulae and their calibration using various kinds of data, including parallaxes.
Biography
I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Florida. After receiving my M. A. under the supervision of D. Nelson Limber in 1969 and Ph. D. with supervisors Sebastian von Hoerner and G. Siegfried Kutter in 1972 at the University of Virginia I was Visiting Assistant Professor of Astronomy at the University of South Florida in Tampa for five years and Assistant Professor for two more. In 1979 I joined the newly-formed Astronomy Department at the University of Florida as Associate Professor.
Last Updated 01.Sep.2007
