Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Steven R. Cranmer's Home Page

I am an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, working in the Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences Division. In my research I study the hot, expanding outer atmospheres of the Sun and other stars. Using both theoretical models and observations, scientists are able to infer a great deal about the physical principles underlying these distant objects, adding to our knowledge of how the universe works as a whole. Understanding the Sun and its atmosphere is also a necessary precursor to being able to predict the Sun's long-term effects on the Earth's climate and local space environment.

Research Areas:   Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Plasma Physics Office Telephone:   1-(617)-495-7271 Fax Number:   1-(617)-495-7455 E-mail:   scranmer   @   cfa.harvard.edu   (remove spaces to use address) Postal Mail:   Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Mail Stop 50, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

For students: 2007 NSO Summer School Intro to solar wind Intro to UVCS Astronomy 191 docs

I work with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) group, which is a part of the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) mission. The overall goal of this project is to obtain a detailed description of the extended solar corona and wind, which will lead to a better understanding of how the solar wind is heated and accelerated.

2008 NEWS:   CPEX Explorer approved for Phase-A Study
2007 NEWS:   Earth and Sky short radio interview (90-second MP3)
2006 NEWS:   Karen Harvey Prize . . . Powerpoint slides (2.7 MB) of the SPD Meeting talk
(see older news items)

In 1996 I received my Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Delaware, where I have worked with the Bartol Research Institute since 1992. My Ph.D. thesis advisor was Dr. Stanley P. Owocki, and my Ph.D. Dissertation is online in PDF and postscript formats. I received my B.S. in Physics from Drexel University in 1990, and my M.S. in Astronomy from the Ohio State University in 1991 (M.S. thesis advisor: Dr. George Collins). While at Drexel, I did co-op work at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.

I am a member of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), its Historical Astronomy Division (HAD), and its Solar Physics Division (SPD). For the period 2003-2005 I served as a member of the SPD Committee, which has general charge of the affairs of the Division. I'm also a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and an Associate Editor for the AGU Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.

I'm happily married since 1992 to Janet Houser. We have a 7-year-old son, Ethan, and a bunch of wonderful cats.

Other Pages

• Research Topic Pages:
  1. Solar Corona and Solar Wind
  2. Hot Star Wind Astrophysics
  3. Cool Star Wind Astrophysics

• Journal Articles and Books
• Recent Preprints and Reprints
• Miscellaneous Documents (articles for non-specialists, unpublished notes)

• Conference Presentations
• Other Presentations (seminars, colloquia, guest lectures)
• 1996 Ph.D. Dissertation (individual chapters in postscript and PDF)

• Curriculum Vitae (in postscript and PDF formats)

• Links:
  1. Solar resources (my SPD Committee Members Resource page)
  2. General astronomy
  3. Guides to giving a good scientific talk
  4. Miscellaneous WWW links

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