Robert J. Nemiroff is an Astrophysicist and Professor of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michiga ...

. He received his Ph.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics ''Astronomy & Astrophysics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. The journal is run by a Board of Directors representing 27 sponsoring countries plus a ...

in 1987 and his B.S. from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

Engineering Physics Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...

in 1982. He is an active researcher with interests that include

gamma-ray bursts In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten millis ...

gravitational lens A gravitational lens is a distribution of matter (such as a cluster of galaxies) between a distant light source and an observer that is capable of bending the light from the source as the light travels toward the observer. This effect is known ...

ing, and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

, and is the cofounder and coeditor of

Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University (MTU). According to the website, "Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation wr ...

(APOD), the home page of which receives over a million hits a day, approximately 20% of nasa.gov traffic. He is married and has one daughter.

Research

Nemiroff's research interests include

ing, sky monitoring, and

. Among other findings, his research on gamma-ray bursts: *showed (along with others) that gamma-ray bursts are consistent with a cosmological distance scale origin before they were discovered to be so distant *led a team that, along with others, showed a lack of energy-dependence in the speed of photons from distant gamma-ray bursts which implies, in contrast to some theories of quantum gravity, that the universe is smooth below the Planck-length scale, as Einstein had predicted In 1999 Nemiroff and colleague Bruce Rafert published a paper showing that continuous astronomical sky monitors could soon become a reality. With students, Nemiroff's initial night sky monitor was an automatically repeating SLR camera with a fisheye lens deployed to Michigan Technological University in 1999, Nemiroff then led a group that designed, built, and deployed the first astronomical all sky optical web monitor, dubbed a CONtinuous CAMera (CONCAM), and in 2000 deployed it to Kitt Peak National Observatory. By the mid-2000s, most major astronomical observatories deployed CONCAM or CONCAM-like devices together capable of monitoring most of the night sky most of the time. Astronomical all sky web monitors are now common at astronomical observing sites. Subsequent collaborative efforts in astronomical deep-sky monitoring now include Pan-STARRs and LSST. In 1986, he predicted the likelihood of

microlensing Gravitational microlensing is an astronomical phenomenon due to the gravitational lens effect. It can be used to detect objects that range from the mass of a planet to the mass of a star, regardless of the light they emit. Typically, astronomers ...

and calculated basic microlensing induced light curves for several possible lens-source configurations in his 1987 thesis. Among his microlensing findings, he, along with others: *predicted before observational recovery that microlensing light curves can effectively resolve the surface of source stars *showed that microlensing boosts the brightnesses of stars actually below the magnitude limit of a survey over the survey limit Nemiroff and graduate student Bijunath R. Patla showed that the Sun is a "very interesting gravitational lens," and Nemiroff found that GRB pulses start at the same time at every energy and that they are scale invariant over energy. His complete publication list i
available from ADS

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

Nemiroff is one of two creators and editors of the

(APOD) website. Started in 1995 by Nemiroff and Dr. Jerry T. Bonnell
APOD
is consistently among the most popular astronomy sites. Its home page typically receives over one million hits per day; APOD has served over one billion images since its start. It is translated into more than 20 languages and has social media outlets on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and various apps. Nemiroff and Bonnell were awarded the 2015

Klumpke-Roberts Award The Klumpke-Roberts Award, one of seven international and national awards for service to astronomy and astronomy education given by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, was established from a bequest by astronomer Dorothea Klumpke-Roberts to ...

by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific "for outstanding contributions to public understanding and appreciation of astronomy" for their work on APOD.

Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL)

Nemiroff and John Wallin established the Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL), an online registry of scientist-written software used in astronomy or astrophysics research, in 1999. The ASCL improves the transparency of astrophysics research by making the software used in research discoverable for examination.

Books

The Universe: 365 Days
2003
Astronomy: 365 Days
2006
Faster than Light: How Your Shadow Can Do It but You Can't
2023

Recognition and awards

He was named a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its mot ...

in 2022 "for exceptional daily astronomy outreach for over 25 years, primarily through the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) website, which has served billions of space-related images with explanations translated daily into over 20 languages". In 2023, an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

formerly known as 2002 GB185 was named "(270558) Nemiroff" in recognition of his role in APOD. Nemiroff and Bonnell were awarded the inaugural

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

(IAU) Astronomy Outreach Prize in 2022. * NSF CAREER Award (1997) * MTU Research Award (2012) * MTU University Professor (2021)

References

External links

Faculty web page at MTUAstronomy Picture of the DayAstrophysics Source Code Library
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nemiroff, Robert J. American astrophysicists American astronomers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the American Physical Society University of Pennsylvania alumni Lehigh University alumni Michigan Technological University