Sten Odenwald
Encyclopedia
Sten Odenwald is an astronomer
who runs the website
Astronomy Cafe, and is a researcher studying the cosmic infrared background and space weather. Since receiving his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1982, he has been an astronomer in the Washington, D.C.
area, primarily at NASA
's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
, Sweden
, and emigrated to California
with his family in 1955. He grew up in Oakland, where he attended primary school. Odenwald had interests in biology, chemistry, geology and electronics. In high school, he began a program of astrophotography.
After attending Fremont High School
, Odenwald attended U.C. Berkeley. While there, he took courses in tensor analysis, General Relativity, and quantum theory. He received his Bachelor's Degree
in Astronomy in 1975, and attended Harvard University
as a graduate student in Astronomy.
At Harvard, he studied accretion disks around supermassive black hole
s. He then worked with Dr. Giovanni Fazio, and completed his Ph.D.
by investigating the far-infrared properties of the Milky Way's galactic center (purportedly the stomping grounds of a million-solar-mass black hole). He also worked at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
in Palestine, Texas
, participating in high-altitude balloon launches involving the 1-meter infrared telescope that Fazio and his team built in 1975. While at Harvard, he was the Teaching Assistant for Owen Gingerich
and David Latham.
headquarters pursuing education projects, he joined Dr. Mike Hauser with the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Team in 1992, working on the Diffuse Infrared background Experiment (DIRBE). This led to independent studies of extra-galactic objects, and collaborations with Dr. Alexander Kashlinsky and Dr. John Mather, who were investigating the cosmic infrared background, which as yet had not been detected by 1997. When the COBE program ended, Odenwald continued his collaboration with Kashlinsky and Mather, with the help of a 5-year NASA research grant. Odenwald worked on education activities related to the IMAGE satellite, and helped to form the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum. Since 1998, Odenwald's research has focused on space weather, specifically the way in which solar storms cause economic damage to satellites in space.
For Odenwald, education was a natural extension of his personal and professional interests, at a time when NASA was being asked to take the lead in inspiring the next generation of engineers and scientists. These programs, in K-12 education, are called Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or 'STEM'.
that Odenwald started in 1995 as an experiment in public education using the new medium of the World Wide Web. It initially offered essays and collections of visual imagery in astronomy. Odenwald started the Ask the Astronomer section of the site, where he invited people to email questions about astronomy, and he would post the answers. The Astronomy Café traffic grew, and by 1998, the Ask the Astronomer section had reached 3000 questions. Odenwald decided to stop answering new questions after that, mainly because the questions had become repetitive. Ask the Astronomer still remains a popular search destination, and gets over 70,000 visitors to this page each month. Over the years, Odenwald has created web resources in astronomy, including those used by NASA.
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
who runs the website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
Astronomy Cafe, and is a researcher studying the cosmic infrared background and space weather. Since receiving his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1982, he has been an astronomer in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area, primarily at NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Early life
Odenwald was born in KarlskogaKarlskoga
Karlskoga is a locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality in Örebro County, Sweden with 27,500 inhabitants in 2005.-Geography:It is located at the northern shore of lake Möckeln, and the small settlement was initially called Möckelns bodar...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and emigrated to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with his family in 1955. He grew up in Oakland, where he attended primary school. Odenwald had interests in biology, chemistry, geology and electronics. In high school, he began a program of astrophotography.
After attending Fremont High School
Fremont Federation of High Schools
The Fremont Federation of High Schools is a group of three high schools, located on the same campus in Oakland, California, formerly known as Fremont Senior High School....
, Odenwald attended U.C. Berkeley. While there, he took courses in tensor analysis, General Relativity, and quantum theory. He received his Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Astronomy in 1975, and attended Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
as a graduate student in Astronomy.
At Harvard, he studied accretion disks around supermassive black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
s. He then worked with Dr. Giovanni Fazio, and completed his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
by investigating the far-infrared properties of the Milky Way's galactic center (purportedly the stomping grounds of a million-solar-mass black hole). He also worked at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility is a NASA facility responsible for providing launch, tracking and control, airspace coordination, telemetry and command systems, and recovery services for unmanned, high altitude balloons...
in Palestine, Texas
Palestine, Texas
Palestine is a city in Anderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 17,598, and 18,458 in the 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Anderson County and is situated in East Texas...
, participating in high-altitude balloon launches involving the 1-meter infrared telescope that Fazio and his team built in 1975. While at Harvard, he was the Teaching Assistant for Owen Gingerich
Owen Gingerich
Dr. Owen Jay Gingerich is a former Research Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University, and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory...
and David Latham.
Career
Following the completion of his Ph.D., Odenwald moved to Washington, DC in 1982, where he worked as a post-Doctoral candidate at the Space Sciences Division of the Naval Research Laboratory until 1990. After a brief stint working for NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
headquarters pursuing education projects, he joined Dr. Mike Hauser with the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Team in 1992, working on the Diffuse Infrared background Experiment (DIRBE). This led to independent studies of extra-galactic objects, and collaborations with Dr. Alexander Kashlinsky and Dr. John Mather, who were investigating the cosmic infrared background, which as yet had not been detected by 1997. When the COBE program ended, Odenwald continued his collaboration with Kashlinsky and Mather, with the help of a 5-year NASA research grant. Odenwald worked on education activities related to the IMAGE satellite, and helped to form the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum. Since 1998, Odenwald's research has focused on space weather, specifically the way in which solar storms cause economic damage to satellites in space.
Current research
Odenwald currently works under contract to NASA at the Goddard Spaceflight Center, in education-related areas of space science. His most recent papers simulate the economic impacts of very large solar 'superstorms' to the commercial satellite network. He participates in TV programs for NASA, radio interviews and other areas to foster public education, and interest in astronomy and space research.For Odenwald, education was a natural extension of his personal and professional interests, at a time when NASA was being asked to take the lead in inspiring the next generation of engineers and scientists. These programs, in K-12 education, are called Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or 'STEM'.
astronomycafe.net
The Astronomy Cafe is a websiteWebsite
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
that Odenwald started in 1995 as an experiment in public education using the new medium of the World Wide Web. It initially offered essays and collections of visual imagery in astronomy. Odenwald started the Ask the Astronomer section of the site, where he invited people to email questions about astronomy, and he would post the answers. The Astronomy Café traffic grew, and by 1998, the Ask the Astronomer section had reached 3000 questions. Odenwald decided to stop answering new questions after that, mainly because the questions had become repetitive. Ask the Astronomer still remains a popular search destination, and gets over 70,000 visitors to this page each month. Over the years, Odenwald has created web resources in astronomy, including those used by NASA.