The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Vanessa Phipps

Center for Astrophysics

Vanessa Phipps

vanessa.phipps@cfa.harvard.edu

About

Vanessa develops and maintains many public-facing educational web apps at CfA funded by grants from NASA, NSF, Smithsonian, and other foundations. These web apps include micro-observatory telescope control, astronomy image processing, searching for exoplanets, spectrum analysis, misconception-based science education, and professional development for teachers. At Maryland, Vanessa studied electrical engineering, then briefly designed microcontroller boards and code for micro robots. She then worked in private sector software development for 12 years, in back-end and front-end roles in a variety of industries, before returning to academia at CfA. Some of the apps she maintains have been in continuous operation since almost the beginning of the Web, a legacy she is proud to continue.

BS in Electrical Engineering from University of Maryland College Park

Telescopes and Instruments

Kepler/K2

Since the early 1990s, astronomers have identified thousands of planets orbiting other stars. Most of those identifications have come thanks to one observatory: NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Until it lost its ability to point, Kepler observed a region of the sky containing about 150,000 stars with potential planets, monitoring them for the slight decrease in light caused by planets crossing in front of the star. After the spacecraft’s pointing control failed, the mission was renamed K2, and it continued to hunt for exoplanets as it tumbled slowly, with its field of view drifting slowly across the sky. The mission finally ended in 2018, though the data it produced continues to provide astronomers with valuable information about planets in our galactic neighborhood. Astronomers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian were responsible for the preparation of the catalog for potentially interesting stars, and have participated extensively in follow-up observations of Kepler planetary discoveries.

Visit the Kepler/K2 Website

Chandra

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is NASA’s flagship X-ray observatory, providing essential data on everything from the environment surrounding newborn stars to the emissions from hot plasma inside galaxy clusters. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), as part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, manages Chandra’s day-to-day operations, providing spacecraft control, observation planning, and data processing for astronomers. Chandra is one of NASA’s orbiting Great Observatories, along with the Hubble.

Visit the Chandra Website

Spitzer Space Telescope

Infrared light is the key to studying a wide range of astronomical systems, including newborn stars and planets, dust in distant galaxies, and material swirling around black holes. The Spitzer Space Telescope was NASA’s orbiting infrared observatory, and part of NASA’s Great Observatories program, along with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists and engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian led the design, testing, and construction of the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 and retired in 2020.

Visit the Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC Page

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets orbiting other stars. Extrapolating from that knowledge, the Milky Way alone is probably home to hundreds of billions of planets, many of which are likely rocky, Earth-like worlds. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space observatory designed to look for exoplanets in orbit around 200,000 nearby bright stars, with a particular interest in identifying small planets. Astronomers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian are part of the scientific team to analyze TESS data, as well as performing follow-up observations. The relative closeness of worlds in the TESS survey will allow astronomers to even study some of their atmospheres, using the future Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and other observatories. TESS observational program is complementary to NASA’s long-running Kepler/K2 mission, and could identify as many as 20,000 new exoplanet orbiting a wide variety of star types.

Visit the TESS Website

MicroObservatory Telescope Network

The MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network is a collection of five computer-controlled telescopes, built specifically for use by public audiences of all ages. These telescopes were designed by the scientists and educators at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, to allow non-professionals interested in astronomy to use small but high-quality instruments for observing the sky. The MicroObservatory telescopes are located at various CfA observatories, including the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona.

Visit the MicroObservatory Telescope Network Website