Gregory Scott Aldering
Encyclopedia
| October 22, 1982 | |
| October 20, 1982 | |
| October 20, 1982 | |
| October 20, 1982 |
Gregory Scott Aldering, also known simply as Greg Aldering is an American astronomer, currently with the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. His interests center on cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, including measurement of the cosmological parameters, the exploration of the nature of the "dark energy
Dark energy
In physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Dark energy is the most accepted theory to explain recent observations that the universe appears to be expanding...
" and the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe. His current cosmological studies focus on the use of Type Ia supernova
Type Ia supernova
A Type Ia supernova is a sub-category of supernovae, which in turn are a sub-category of cataclysmic variable stars, that results from the violent explosion of a white dwarf star. A white dwarf is the remnant of a star that has completed its normal life cycle and has ceased nuclear fusion...
e as tools for determining the cosmological parameters, through his participation in the Supernova Cosmology Project
Supernova Cosmology Project
The Supernova Cosmology Project is one of two research teams that determined the likelihood of an accelerating universe and therefore a positive Cosmological constant, using data from the redshift of Type Ia supernovae...
. He is now the primary investigator of the Nearby Supernova Factory
Nearby Supernova Factory
The Nearby Supernova Factory is a collaborative experiment led by Greg Aldering, designed to collect data on more Type Ia supernovae than have ever been studied in a single project before, and by studying them, to increase understanding of the expanding universe and "Dark Energy."The project began...
experiment, and is also a co-investigator on the Supernova / Acceleration Probe
Supernova / Acceleration Probe
The Supernova/Acceleration Probe Mission is expected to provide an understanding of the mechanism driving the acceleration of the universe. The satellite observatory would be capable of measuring up to 2,000 distant supernovae each year of its three-year mission lifetime.The SNAP is still in the...
.
While an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(1980–1983), he discovered a few asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
s. He has so far classified some 266 supernovae, and is one of the co-discoverers of SN 2002bk.