JOHN C. BARENTINE

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Department of Astronomy University of Texas at Austin

1 University Station, C1400
Austin, TX 78712-0259 USA
Tel 512-471-8275
Fax 512-471-6016

I'm an astronomer at the University of Texas. My adventure in astronomy has been a little unconventional.

Currently, I collaborate with Dr. Bart Wakker of the University of Wisconsin in researching the Galactic High Velocity Clouds. This is part of the work for which I received my Ph.D. in April 2013.

Previously, I worked with Prof. John Kormendy on the secular evolution of galaxies. We published two papers on that subject.

I did my astronomy master's work at UT in the Interstellar Medium (ISM) group under the supervision of Prof. John Lacy, involving high resolution, mid-infrared molecular spectroscopy with the Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrometer (TEXES) instrument on the Gemini North telescope in Hawai'i. That got published, too.

As part of my studies with Dr. Lacy, I worked on the assembly and testing of the Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrometer (EXES), a 1st generation facility instrument for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). I also participated in outreach with the EXES Teachers' Program.

In a previous life, I was employed as a 3.5m Telescope Observing Specialist (2001-5) for the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC). During that time, I was the APO liaison for the fabrication and testing of the Near-Infrared Camera/Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (NIC-FPS), a 3.5m facility instrument, at the University of Colorado.

In 2004-06, I was an Observer for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) at Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, NM. SDSS is one of the most successful and scientifically productive projects in the history of astronomy. There are now over 4000 refereed papers with 'SDSS' or 'Sloan Survey' in their abstract or title. To astronomical accuracy, that's about 1 paper per day since the telescope saw first light in 1998. These papers have been cited over 150,000 times. I'm a co-author on a few of them.

In an even earlier previous life, I completed a master's degree in physics at Colorado State University in 2002. My thesis project, supervised by Prof. Roger Culver, involved evaluating a 0.5-meter telescope for doing high-precision photometry studies of extrasolar planet transits for the Global Network of Automated Telescopes (GNAT). (Results: not good for the telescope.)





I have assisted with the instruction of undergraduate astronomy and physics courses over 10+ years at CSU and UT, spanning the range from the non-major introductory level to upper-division majors' courses. In addition, I was the instructor of record for observational astronomy laboratories at both institutions.

Like many in this business, I started out life as an amateur astronomer. I previously belonged to amateur clubs in Phoenix and Tucson, and even started one of my own in high school. During college, I led tours at Kitt Peak National Observatory and ran public observing nights at Flandrau Planetarium. Committment to outreach remains important to me.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Education

• Ph.D., Astronomy, University of Texas (2013)
  
• M.A., Astronomy, University of Texas (2008)
  
• M.S., Physics, Colorado State University (2002)
  
• B.S., Physics, University of Arizona (1998)
  

• M.A. "A Comparative Astrochemical Study of the High Mass Protostellar Objects NGC 7538 IRS 1 and IRS 9" (2008; PDF)
  
• M.S. "A Diagnostic Analysis Of A SciTech STAR Class 0.5m Telescope For The Purpose Of High Precision Photometry" (2002; PDF)
  

• astro-ph
• ADS

h-index: 34 (November 2012)

Presentations

Talks
• "Distances To The 21cm High Velocity Clouds" (UTexas Exgal Seminar, December 2009) (PDF)
• "Astrophysics In The Mid-Infrared With EXES" (UTexas, September 2007) (HTML) (PDF)
• "Tidal Disruption And Cannibalism Of Dwarf Milky Way Satellite Galaxies As Revealed In New Discoveries By The SDSS" (UTexas, April 2007) (PDF)
• "Radiative Processes in the 21 cm High Velocity Clouds Problem" (UTexas, December 2006) (PDF)
• "The APO-PSI TNO Survey" (UTexas, October 2006) (PDF)
• "The Life And Times Of The Milky Way" (Alamogordo Astronomy Club, Alamogordo, NM, November 2005) (HTML) (PDF)
• "The Science Of SDSS" (National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, NM, June 2004) (HTML) (PDF)

Posters
• "Long-Term Optical and Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Monitoring of Epsilon Aurigae During the 2009-11 Eclipse" (219th AAS Meeting, Austin, TX, January 2012) (PDF)
• "Detection of a Distinct Pseudobulge Hidden Inside the 'Box-Shaped Bulge' of NGC 4565" (Galaxy Evolution: Emerging Insights and Future Challenges, UTexas, November 2008) (PDF)
• "High Resolution Molecular Absorption Line Spectroscopy Of The Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy NGC 4418" (211th AAS Meeting, Austin, TX, January 2008) (PDF)
• "Distances to the High Velocity Clouds: A Forty-Year Mystery on the Way to Solution" (New Horizons in Astronomy: Frank N. Bash Symposium, UTexas, October 2007) (PDF)
• "A Gamma Ray Burst Fields Study In The Near-infrared" (208th AAS Meeting, Calgary, AB, June 2006) (PDF)
• "Near Infrared Observations of Barnards Merope Nebula (IC 349)" (203rd AAS Meeting, Atlanta, GA, January 2004) (PDF)

• American Astronomical Society (AAS; 2000-present)
• American Association For The Advancement Of Science (AAAS; 1993-present)

RANDOM

The asteroid (14505) Barentine is named after me.

In addition to science, I'm interested in the (pre)history of astronomy. One of those adventures led to my fifteen minutes of fame.

"A Possible Rock Art Depiction Of The A.D. 1006 Supernova Event In The American Southwest" (208th AAS Meeting, Calgary, AB, June 2006) (PDF)
"Ancient Rock Art Depicts Exploding Star" (SPACE.com, 5 June 2006)
"Petroglyph may have recorded supernova" (USA Today, 6 June 2006)
"Did Ancient Americans Record a Supernova? (Sky & Telescope, 7 June 2006)

I tweet about science, public policy, politics, government, and law. Follow me at @JohnBarentine on the Twitter.

LINKS

UT Astronomy Home Page
UT Astro Interstellar Medium Group
My personal home page (non-UT)