The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Matthew Ashby

Center for Astrophysics

Astronomer

Matthew Ashby

mashby@cfa.harvard.edu

About

Astronomer Dr. Ashby is the current Chair of the Center for Astrophysics' Optical and Infrared Astronomy Division. His research focuses primarily on infrared surveys of different kinds. Until recently this was concerned with deep extragalactic surveys using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, to better understand galaxy evolution over cosmic time. Currently, however, Dr. Ashby is a Co-Investigator with NASA's SPHEREx mission (due to launch in the spring of 2025) and, in that capacity, he is helping define the SPHEREx infrared spectroscopic survey for biogenic compounds in the Milky Way. From 2016 to 2023, Dr. Ashby was Co-Director of SAO's Astrophysics Research Experience for Undergraduates Site.

He/Him

PhD, Cornell University, 1995

Projects

The Star Formation Reference Survey

Optical and Infrared Astronomy

Astronomers study star formation as a way of understanding our own origins, as well as the structure of galaxies and the evolution of the cosmos as a whole. However, the farther back in time, astronomers often rely on a single measurement type for each galaxy to measure star-formation rates. The Star Formation Reference Survey (SFRS) is designed to improve and assess the reliability of all of these measurements by cataloging nearby star formation, using NASA’s Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope and other observatories. The data produced provides a useful reference data across a wide range of wavelengths in the spectrum of light, which can be applied across surveys of star formation in close-by and distant galaxies. The SFRS observational effort is led by astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, in collaboration with other researchers around the world.

Telescopes and Instruments

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

South Pole Telescope, Antarctica

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is a submillimeter observatory in Antarctica that performs measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the dark energy driving the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. The observatory is also part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a globe-spanning multi-telescope project that captured the first image of a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. The SPT project is a collaboration between the University of Chicago, the University of California at Berkeley, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Illinois, and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Visit the South Pole Telescope, Antarctica 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

SPHEREx

Clues about the origin of the universe and of life are scattered across the sky. SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) is a NASA medium-class Explorer (MIDEx) designed to measure optical-to-infrared spectra of hundreds of millions of galaxies and millions of Milky Way stars. With its unprecedented galaxy catalog, SPHEREx will answer pressing questions about the history and origin of the universe. Its unique catalog of Milky Way stellar spectra will reveal the abundances of water and other molecules associated with life in the Milky Way in unprecedented detail. Researchers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, including Gary Melnick, Matthew Ashby, Joseph Hora, and Volker Tolls, are involved in the SPHEREx investigation seeking to understand the distribution of these molecules throughout the Galaxy so as to better answer complex questions about their origins. SPHEREx is scheduled for launch from Vandenburg AFB no earlier than February 2025.Visit the SPHEREx Website

The Submillimeter Array - Maunakea, HI

Located near the summit of Maunakea on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) is one of the flagship observatories of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. The observatory consists of eight radio dishes working together as one telescope, giving astronomers a window on a wide range of astronomical objects and phenomena: planets and comets in our own Solar System; the birth of stars and planets; and the supermassive black holes hidden at the centers of the Milky Way and other galaxies. The SMA is operated jointly by the CfA and the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

Visit the Submillimeter Array Website