Daniel E. Reichart is an American astronomer. Reichart’s dissertation research on distant, cosmic explosions called gamma-ray bursts was ranked by Science Magazine as one of the top ten discoveries in science in 1999, and in 2003 earned him the

Robert J. Trumpler Award The Robert J. Trumpler Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific is given annually to a recent recipient of the Ph.D degree whose thesis is judged particularly significant to astronomy.Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 1996. He received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Chicago in 1998 and 2000. He then won a prestigious

Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the ...

, which he took to the California Institute of Technology. He joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002, where he is now a Professor of Physics and Astronomy. To date, Reichart has published 136 journal articles, including five in Nature and Science magazines, and has raised over $12 million for his research. He is also the recipient of the Carl Sagan Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Nathan Sugarman Award for Excellence in Research, the Donn MacMinn Award for Service beyond the Walls of the University, and Ernest F. Fullam Award of Dudley Observatory. Since arriving at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Reichart has been building “Skynet”. Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, Skynet is an ever-growing collection of fully automated, or robotic, professional-quality telescopes under the control of software developed by Reichart’s team. Currently, Skynet spans four continents and five countries, and consists of nearly twenty optical telescopes, with mirrors ranging in size from 14 inches to 1 meter in diameter, as well as a 20-meter diameter radio telescope. Skynet publishes in peer-reviewed journals, on average, once every three weeks, and simultaneously serves tens of thousands of students, of all ages, graduate school through elementary school. Reichart suffered first and second-degree burns to his arms and face on November 2, 2017 while trying to put out a fire at the base of

Davie Poplar Davie Poplar is a large tulip poplar tree located in McCorkle Place on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Named in honor of Revolutionary War general and university founder William Richardson Davie, the tree is approx ...

when a small explosion engulfed Reichart.

References

External links

NASA page about Dr. ReichartUniversity of North Carolina page about Dr. ReichartBiographical InformationPersonal webpage with research listings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichart, Daniel E. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American astronomers American astrophysicists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Eberly College of Science alumni University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American astronomers