The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Patrick Slane

Center for Astrophysics

Director, Chandra X-ray Center; Senior Astrophysicist, SAO

Patrick Slane

pslane@cfa.harvard.edu

About

Dr. Slane is the Director of the Chandra X-ray Center, which which controls science and flight operations for the Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA's flagship mission for X-ray astronomy. His research centers on high energy astrophysics, with particular concentration on the aftermath of massive stellar explosions (supernova remnants, young neutron stars, and pulsar winds). Dr. Slane has supported the scientific community as a member of the Executive Committees for the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the AAS and the Division of Astrophysics of the APS. He has been the recipient of numerous NASA Group Achievement awards and Smithsonian Superior Accomplishment awards, and has been elected as a Fellow of the APS. A former high school teacher, he remains involved in a variety of education outreach activities to bring science topics to schools and the public, and in supervising the research efforts of undergraduate and graduate students.

B.S.E. (Physics, Mathematics) University of Wisconsin - Whitewater; M.S. (Mathematics) University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee; PhD (Physics) University of Wisconsin - Madison

Telescopes and Instruments

Einstein Observatory

NASA’s Einstein Observatory was the first X-ray space telescope designed to produce images of astronomical X-ray sources. The spacecraft operated from 1978 through 1981, providing important observations of pulsars, supernova remnants, supermassive black holes in other galaxies, and many more, paving the way for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The X-ray telescope was designed by researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

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

Lynx X-Ray Observatory

The Lynx X-ray Observatory is a proposed X-ray space telescope, designed to be the next generation following NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s upcoming Athena Telescope. This observatory will be able to take images of a larger area of the sky in X-ray light with better resolution than any existing telescope, allowing astronomers to study the first supermassive black holes, the hot gas surrounding galaxies as they evolve, and radiation from the earliest stars. Researchers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and other universities are presenting Lynx to NASA for consideration in the 2020 Decadal Survey, with a proposed launch date in the mid-2030s.

Visit the Lynx X-Ray Observatory 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

Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)

Gamma rays don’t pierce Earth’s atmosphere, but when they strike the air, they produce faint flashes of visible light. The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is a set of four telescopes designed to detect those flashes, providing valuable observations of gamma rays from supernova remnants, black holes, and other extremely high-energy astrophysical events. VERITAS is part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in southern Arizona.

Visit the VERITAS Website