The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
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Mike Alexandersen

Center for Astrophysics
MPC Postdoctoral Fellow
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Mike Alexandersen
mike.alexandersen@cfa.harvard.edu

About

Mike Alexandersen is a MPC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Minor Planet Center (MPC), having started in this position in January 2020. Mike received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in astronomy from the University of Copenhagen in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 2015. Mike was a postdoctoral fellow at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taipei in 2015-2019. Mike's research interests relate to discovering and tracking distant Solar System objects (Kuiper Belt objects, Centaurs and moons of the giant planets) as well as dynamical simulations of these populations. His duties at the MPC includes fitting orbits to observations of these same populations of objects, as well as software development. Mike likes to bike and play board games.

University of British Columbia (Ph.D. in Astronomy, 2015), University of Copenhagen (M.Sc. and B.Sc. in astronomy, 2007 and 2009)

Telescopes and Instruments

Magellan Telescopes

The twin Magellan Telescopes in Chile are each 6.5 meter optical telescopes. These telescopes are both equipped with instruments to take images and spectra of light from a wide variety of astronomical sources, including exoplanet systems, star-forming regions, supernova remnants, and interacting galaxies. The Magellan Telescopes — named Baade and Clay —  are hosted at the Las Campanas Observatory and are operated by a consortium of institutions, including the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Arizona, the University of Michigan, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, CfA scientists and engineers provided a wide field f/5 focal system (including secondary mirror and corrective optics), and a powerful astronomical camera for use at the Clay telescope.

Visit the Magellan Telescopes Website
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MMT Observatory

The MMT Observatory is the premier visible-light and infrared telescope jointly managed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and the University of Arizona. Located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in southern Arizona, this 6.5-meter (21 foot) telescope is used to study objects across the field of astronomy, from the Solar System to distant galaxies. The MMT has provided a testbed for new telescope technologies developed by scientists and engineers at the CfA and the University of Arizona.

Visit the MMT Website
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