Thomas Ashcraft

Thomas Ashcraft (born 1951, Springfield, Illinois)[1] is an American astronomer, naturalist, scientific instrument-maker, and artist.[2] He is known for his observations of transient luminous events (lightning sprites),[3] meteoric fireballs,[4] solar radio and optical phenomena,[5] and Jupiter radio emissions.[6]

He is an artist and citizen scientist whose work, Heliotown II, is on exhibit in the old pool house located on the Hyde Park campus of at the Santa Fe Institute.[7] He resides and maintains a laboratory and studio west of Villanueva, New Mexico[8] where he operates the Observatory of Heliotown.[9] Research-grade images, audio, and video captured at the observatory have been featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day blog.[10][11]

Science practice

In 1992, Ashcraft built the Fast Drift Burst Observatory, also called the Radio Fireball Observatory,[12] for monitoring and recording fireballs, space dust, and meteoric phenomena. He has made numerous innovations in the merging of optical and radio telescope technology.[13] In 2001, he began observing Jupiter, the sun, and ionospheric phenomena with NASA's Radio Jove Project.[14]

In 2009, Ashcraft began noting lightning-generated phenomena called transient luminous events (red sprites)[15] on his radio-optical telescope systems. Over time he has established a multi-faceted observatory devoted to the capture and study of this rarely imaged phenomenon.[16]

Art practice

Ashcraft is primarily a sculptor and installation artist incorporating space, time, mind, sound, and electricity.[17] He is also a figurative sculptor exploring biological subjects such bacteriophages, viruses, microbes, and medicinal plants.[18] He was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Prize[19] in art in 2005.

Selected publications

Papers

References

  1. ^ "Thomas Ashcraft - The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation". The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. 2022-03-01. Archived from the original on 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  2. ^ "Thomas Ashcraft | Citizen Scientist / Scientific Instrument Maker / Observer". NASA Solar System Exploration.
  3. ^ Blakeslee, Sandra (September 28, 2014). "On the Hunt for a Sprite on a Midsummer's Night". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "APOD: 2021 March 15 - Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound". apod.nasa.gov.
  5. ^ "As Sun Flares Up, Sky Watchers Check Microphones". NPR.org.
  6. ^ "AGU - iPosterSessions.com". agu2020fallmeeting-agu.ipostersessions.com.
  7. ^ "Heliotown ii". Santa Fe Institute. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  8. ^ FastDriftBurst101800
  9. ^ Nott, Robert. "Citizen scientist driven by the need to discover". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  10. ^ Nemiroff, Robert. "Astronomy Picture of the Day: Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound". APOD. apod.nasa.gov. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  11. ^ Nemiroff, Robert. "Astronomy Picture of the Day: Sprite Lightning at 100,000 Frames Per Second". APOD. apod.nasa.gov. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  12. ^ Mexican, Staci Matlock The New. "Artist-turned-astronomer tracks the galaxy's glowing, traveling orbs". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  13. ^ "How an Astronomical Mystery Was Explained by High-Tech Photography". Gizmodo.
  14. ^ "The JOVE Bulletin October 2002 Issue". radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  15. ^ "APOD: 2021 January 4 - Sprite Lightning at 100000 Frames Per Second". apod.nasa.gov.
  16. ^ Mann, Adam. "Otherworldly Photos Capture Mysterious Phenomena in Upper Atmosphere". Wired – via www.wired.com.
  17. ^ "Explorations Of The Invisibles. Freedom & Power In The Electromagnetic • Digicult | Digital Art, Design and Culture". Digicult | Digital Art, Design and Culture. December 5, 2011.
  18. ^ says, Corazon Ledesma (March 5, 2020). "Thomas Ashcraft's Hopeful Reminder in Fearful Times".
  19. ^ "Thomas Ashcraft". The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.