Vol. 55, Issue 1 (Obituaries, News & Commentaries, Community Reports)

Daub’s early research interests in gaseous nebulae culminated in a widely cited paper in 1982, but his main love was teaching; many of his students pursued careers in science.

Dulk’s research ranged widely from studies of Jupiter’s radio emission to solar and stellar radio bursts, and led to modern methods of detecting radio emission from extrasolar planets.

Gierasch’s mathematical models unveiled the turbulent vortices, tempestuous eddies and atmospheric tumult arising on other planets long before spacecraft could consistently prove it with images.

Roberts, a chemist and amateur astronomer, passed away due to cancer on Saturday, May 29, 2010. He was 74.

Dickinson was a well-known Canadian astronomer who authored numerous popular astronomy books, and served as editor for several astronomy periodicals.

Lewis' contributions to astronomy spanned Galactic dynamics, large survey programs and a number of important support roles for data reduction and analysis.

Swings, former IAU General Secretary, conducted a wide range of observational research ranging from solar physics, B[e]-type stars, quasars, to gravitational lenses.

Author, editor, and popularizer of astronomy Whitney shared his expertise in variable stars with a broad audience.

Lee developed highly accurate molecular line lists for stellar and exoplanetary atmosphere modeling, and both identified and quantified chemical reaction routes relevant to astrophysics.

Corbin was a leader in astrometry and the production of star catalogs for use in navigation and astronomical research.

Jackson was an expert on classical astrometry and a member of the last generation of transit circle observers.

Townsley led x-ray studies of massive star-forming regions using the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Steve Criswell was a key staff member of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System.

Lieske computed precision orbits for planets and their satellites that contributed to NASA’s Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini mission plans.

Probst was deeply involved in the development of infrared instruments and two-dimensional array detectors for the U.S. national observatories.

Commentary from the AAS Journals

We summarize the methodology adopted to create a user-centric site for the Gemini observatory and present the strategy for the Gemini Digital Governance, which ensures consistency and sustainability of the observatory’s digital presence.

We assessed the participation of community members in AAS meeting press conferences between 2010 and 2022. Results show inequities among women and gender minorities, people of color, institution type, and career stage. We present recommendations for addressing these inequities.

Drake pioneered the field of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).

Most scientists experience or witness workplace incivility including bullying, (sexual) harassment, or racism in their career. Finding support to navigate these situations is important, yet challenging. I describe ten suggestions to improve support.

Roberts’ research interests ranged from Viking 1 imaging of Martian surface features, to x-ray pulsars, to stellar populations and abundances, to the distance scale of the universe.

Kinman conducted seminal studies of the Milky Way halo, RR Lyrae variables in globular clusters, QSO’s and BL Lac objects.

Hall was an accomplished astronomer and instrumentalist who led the development and use of high-resolution infrared spectrometers and large format infrared arrays. The latter had an enormous impact on both ground- and space-based telescopes.

Berendzen was a tireless advocate for public literacy in science, a historian of astronomy, a consummate classroom teacher, a university president, and prolific public lecturer/commentator in space science.

Drake conducted a broad range of research involving radio to x-ray observations and modeling of stellar and galactic sources.

Commentary from the AAS Journals

Durrance, one of only a few astronomer-astronauts, was instrumental in designing, building, and operating the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) as part of the Astro-1 and Astro-2 payloads on two Space Shuttle missions.

Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, University of California at Berkeley