Faculty | Catherine "Caty" A. Pilachowski
Daniel Kirkwood Chair,
Ph.D.
Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 1975
Contact Information:
Astronomy Department
Indiana University
Swain West 323
727 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: (812) 855-6913
Fax: (812) 855-8725
Email: catyp@astro.indiana.edu
Biographical Information: (curriculum vita) - If you are assigned to "interview an astronomer" for school, please see my interview page for help with your assignment.
Professor Pilachowski holds the Kirkwood Chair in Astronomy at Indiana University Bloomington, where she teaches and conducts research on the evolution of stars and the chemical history of the Milky Way Galaxy from studies of chemical composition of stars and star clusters. She served for more than 20 years on the scientific staff of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson. While at NOAO, she served as Project Scientist for the design and construction of the 3.5-meter WIYN Telescope, a telescope at which the IUB Astronomy Department holds a 17% share.
In addition to her astronomical research, Professor Pilachowski has been active in the areas of light pollution, astronomical instrumentation, large telescope design and construction, electronic publications, women in science, and diversity. She has served on numerous national and international boards and committees and as President of the American Astronomical Society from 2002-2004.
Professor Pilachowski received a B.S. in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in California, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii, where she observed at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Research Interests:
(see my research page for more information on the topics below)
- Instrumentation
- Globular Cluster Abundances
- Studies of Young Clusters
Teaching and Learning:
- Courses
- Curriculum
- Research Based Science Education for Undergraduates (CCLI)
- Ethics in Undergraduate Education
- NovaSearch
- Activities for Introductory Astronomy Classes (More classroom activities can be found on the teacher workshop pages below!)
- Tips for scientific writing
- Public Talks
- Minu-University Lectures
- WISP Lecture - Modern Telescopes, Ancient Skies (ppt, 10 MB)
- What's Brewing in the Teapot at Prairie Grass Observatory, August, 2007 (Powerpoint file, 12MB)
- The Amazing Omega Centauri (PPT, 8MB) presented at the Indiana Astronomical Society, June 2008
- 2005 Lifelong Learning Lectures: (Lecture 1: ppt, 10 MB) (Lecture 2: ppt, 5 MB) (Lecture 3: ppt, 7 MB)
- Star Cities of the Milky Way (presented in Houston, June, 2009, PPT, 15 MB)
- Teacher Workshops
- Fred Lo's Radio Astronomy Lectures:
Recent Publications:
- Abundances of Red Giants in Old Open Clusters. III. NGC 7142
Jacobson, H. R., Friel, E. D., & Pilachowski, C. A. 2008, AJ, 135, 2341. - Fe and Al Abundances for 180 Red Giants in the Globular Cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139)
Johnson, C. I., Pilachowski, C. A., Simmerer, J., & Schwenk, D. 2008, ApJ, 681, 1505. - Europium, Samarium, and Neodymium Isotopic Fractions in Metal-Poor Stars
Roederer, I., et al. 2008, ApJ, 265, 723. - Na, Al, and O Abundances of Open Clusters NGC 7142, NGC 6939, and IC 4756
Jacobson, H. R., Friel, E. D., & Pilachowski, C. A. 2007, AJ, 134, 1216. - A Moderate Sample Size, Multielement Analysis of the Globular Cluster M12 (NGC 6218)
Johnson, C. I. & Pilachowski, C. A. 2006, AJ, 132, 2346. - A 235 Star Sample Sodium, Magnesium, and Aluminum Abundance Study in the Globular Clusters M3 (NGC 5272) and M13 (NGC 6205)
Johnson, C. I., Kraft, R. P., Pilachowski, C. A., Sneden, C., Ivans, I. I., & Benman, G. 2005, PASP, 117, 1308. - Abundances of Red Giants in Old Open Clusters. II. Berkeley 17
Friel, E. D., Jacobson, H. R., & Pilachowski, C. A. 2005, AJ, 129, 2725.
Conversations:
