Good Heavens, Betty!

                "Good Heavens, Betty!"    (Inspired by Roy Lichtenstein.)


          Kite

Kite 1



I am a Computer Specialist. This is a catch-all title designed to allow the bearer to do everything from data base work to tending bar; from astrometry to warehousing archaic materials; from designing and maintaining home pages to designing book covers!

In addition:

I'm part of the SIMBAD USA Team. SIMBAD is a database originated and maintained by the CDS in Strasbourg, France.

SIMBAD is now available on the Web to anyone interested in astronomy -- no ID/password combination is required. I help folks who have SIMBAD-related problems or who would like information. SIMBAD USA is funded by NASA. We now have a SIMBAD mirror site here at the Center for Astrophysics. Click here to query the CFA mirrorsite:    SIMBAD  USA  mirror

Want to travel? Visit the   CDS in Strasbourg !

I work for the SAO Summer Intern Program too. We bring a great group of undergraduates to SAO each summer. Are you (or do you know) an undergraduate who might want to spend a summer working for an astrophysicist? For information about the program:

SAO Summer Intern Program

I also work for the Astrophysics Data System (ADS). I do various things for the ADS - transcribe and edit OCR-created material to create tables of contents, edit conference proceedings abstracts, format tables of contents files, edit titles, author lists and abstracts (so math characters and accents will be displayed correctly), help keep track of what's on the system, scan pages of articles which are missing or messed up, and demonstrate both the ADS and SIMBAD at conferences and meetings around the country.

The Astrophysics Data System is free and available on the Web without a password. An on-line library for the astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and geophysics communities, The ADS is is a open 24 hours a day. It is a NASA-funded project whose main resource is an Abstract Service, divided into three sections:

  •  1)  Astronomy and Astrophysics
  •  2)  Physics (includes Geophysics)
  •  3)  ArXiv astro-ph preprints
The total number of abstracts in each or these categories is listed at:  ADS abstracts ,  along with other information about the contents of the ADS.

Each database can be searched by author, object name (astronomy only), title, or abstract text words. The abstract service includes links to scanned images of thousands of journal articles. The ADS carries articles appearing in all of the major astronomical journals (back to their first volumes).

The ADS cross-references data for SIMBAD objects. That is, if a celestial object is mentioned in an abstract, and if SIMBAD has data for that object, an "S" link appears next to the abstract in the ADS. Clicking the "S" link accesses the SIMBAD data.

The ADS contains an extensive references and citations database.

The major astronomy and astrophysics journals are now on line. Scanned articles are available as .tif or .gif files). We are working on making conference proceedings available, and we provide many PhD theses and some books. We are adding historical literature (from microfilm libraries) as it becomes available and is catalogued.

ADS - The Astrophysics Data System

Here's my official CfA portrait... Outside of work I am a visual artist and a dancer.

The homage to Lichtenstein at the top of this page is painted in acryic, on paper. I designed it for use as a light-hearted poster to attract passersby at conferences. I wanted to create a graphic which would let people know what the ADS is at a glance: something which would stand out among the science-oriented graphics of other presentations.

I work in various graphic media: ink and pencil, conté crayon, watercolor and acrylics. The first three of the images shown here are monoprints (made using watercolor and ink), the third is a watercolor.

I created the image below to be the background illustration for the cover of a series of books about x-ray astrophysics. A different design (also mine, and also using overlays) was used for that set. This image, now called "Celestial Embrace", is included in an article by Al Nath which appeared in the October issue of the French journal, "Orion"



x-ray portrait



Below is another Kite image -- a more planetary subject (atmospheres?!).



Kite 2




And finally, a terrestrial still life.
Still life


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