CURRICULUM VITAE

 

FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

 

March 11, 2010

 

A.    BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

 

1. PERSONAL

 

Slavek M.  Rucinski  

 

   2. DEGREES

        MSc, 1965, Warsaw University, “Eclipsing Binary DI Pegasi”, Dr. A. Kruszewski

PhD, 1970, Warsaw University, “Proximity Effects in Close Binary Systems”,

Prof. S. Piotrowski

 

 

   3. EMPLOYMENT

 

·         Retired: June 30, 2009

·         2005-2009, Full Professor (5 year contract), Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto

·         2004-2005, Associate Professor (5 year contract) & Associate Director, David Dunlap Observatory, University of Toronto

·         1999-2004, Associate Director (Senior Management Group), David Dunlap Observatory & Associate Professor, University of Toronto

·         1999 (first half), Observatory Support Scientist (Prof. Eng. Officer 3), David Dunlap Observatory

·         1997-1998, Resident Astronomer, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation, Hawaii

·         1988-1997, Senior Scientist, Space Astrophysics Laboratory, ISTS; Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto and York University

·         1986-88, Assistant Professor (contractual basis), University of Toronto.

·         1984-86, Research Officer, David Dunlap Observatory and Visiting Lecturer, University of Toronto.

·         1982-84, Senior Research Associate, University of Cambridge, UK.

·         1980-82, Visiting Scientist, Max-Planck-Inst., Munich, Germany.

·         1979-80, Associate Professor (tenure), Warsaw University Observatory, Poland

·         1977-79, Assistant Professor, Warsaw University Observatory, Poland

·         1975-77, NRC Research Associate, DAO, Victoria, BC

·         1971-75, Research Associate, Warsaw University Observatory, Poland

·         1970-71, Post-doc Fellow, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

·         1965-70, Research and Teaching Assistant, Warsaw University Observatory

 

 

4. HONOURS

 

·         The Alouette Award for the MOST satellite, April 2008; Canadian Astronautical Society

 

 

5. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

 

·         President of  IAU Comm.42, “Close Binary Stars”, Prague, August 2006 – July 2009

·         Vice-president IAU Comm.42, “Close Binary Stars”, Sydney 2003 – 2006

·         Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the IAU Symp. 240, “Binary Stars as Critical Tools & Tests in Contemporary Astrophysics, Prague 2006

·         Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the IAU Colloquium “Close Binaries in the 21st Century: New Opportunities and Challenges”, Greece 2005

·         Member of the NSF Grant Allocation Panel “Evolution of Stars”, 2001

·         Member of JSSA: Joint Subcommittee on Space Astronomy (Canadian Space Agency and CASCA), 1993 - 1996. Chair of JSSA, 1995 - 1997.

·         Member of the Cool Stars Panel, Hubble Space telescope Time Allocation Committee, Cycle 4, Space Telescope Sci. Inst., 1993.

·         Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the IAU Coll. “Binary Stars in Stellar Clusters”, Calgary, June 1995

·         Member of the CFHT Time Allocation Committee, 1990 -1992.

·         Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the IAU Coll.130: “The Sun and Cool Stars: Activity, Magnetism, Dynamos”, Helsinki, July 1990.

·         Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the IAU Joint Discussion: “Evolution of close binary stars”, IAU Gen. Assembly, Baltimore, MD, 1988.

·         Member of the  Scientific Organizing Committee of the IAU Symposium No. 118: “Instrumentation and Research Programmes for Small Telescopes”, Christchurch, New Zealand, December 1985.

·         Member of the Local Organizing Committee of the NATO Advanced Study Institute: “Interacting Binaries”, Cambridge, UK, August 1983.

·         Member of the Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA), since 1985.

·         Member of the Board of Directors, CASCA, 1992 - 1995.

·         Senior Research Scholar, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1982-84.

·         Member of the International Astronomical Union, since 1973 and member of IAU Comm.42, “Close Binary Stars”.

·         Member of the Polish Astronomical Society, since 1965.

 

B.  ACADEMIC HISTORY

  

This is an abbreviated version (to take pity on readers).

 

6. A.  RESEARCH ENDEAVOURS

 

After obtaining a MSc in 1965 on a study of a light curve of the binary DI Peg, I collaborated with Dr. K. Serkowski and worked on polarization, mostly circum-stellar in origin. When he left Poland in 1967, I changed my interest and worked on various proximity effects in very close binary systems (illumination and reflection, distortions, mass transfer, model atmospheres) which resulted in my PhD Thesis in 1970 under Prof. S. Piotrowski.

 

In 1970 I took one year Post-Doctoral position in Gainesville, Florida where I wrote one of the first light-curve-synthesis programs for contact binaries. Then I returned to Poland for 4 years. During the stay in the DAO Victoria as a NRC research associate (1975/77), I learned practical aspects of the stellar spectroscopy and published several papers on chromospherically active stars. I also started using astronomical satellites (OAO-2, ANS, OAO-3).

In 1977 – 1980, I was employed as an Associate and then Assistant Professor at the Warsaw University Observatory. My first (of many) IUE satellite projects were done during the stay at the Max-Planck-Institute in Munich (1980 – 1982), and in Cambridge, U.K.(1982 – 1984). I was promoted at Warsaw to the Associate Prof and tenure in my absence in 1982.

We immigrated to Canada in 1984 when I was hired to UBC to work on the Starlab satellite project. This project lost funding and we moved to University of Toronto instead. I worked there for 2 years on contracts. When Ontario Centre of Excellence, the Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS) was created, I moved and worked for the next 10 years (1987-1997) until the closure of this institution. This is when the idea of the MOST satellite was conceived and applied for to the CSA (1997). The approval came after the closure of ISTS when – in search of employment – I moved to Hawaii (CFHT). Paradoxically, The MOST satellite may be considered the only tangible achievement of ISTS.

In 1999, I took the position of astronomer and later Associate Director of the David Dunlap Observatory which I held until its closure in 2008. I actively continued in the MOST Science team.

In the spring of 2003, I was approached by the University of Toronto Inst. for Aerospace Studies to design a nano-satellite for astronomy. This led to the satellite BRITE. Two satellites are being build in each, Austria and Poland; the Canadian funding for two more satellites is expected to start in 2010. The BRITE Constellation is planned to fill the niche of precise photometry of bright stars: their photometry is the least consistent now yet they are the easiest for spectroscopic follow up studies.

 

6. B.  RESEARCH AWARDS

 

·         CSA, 2007-2010, 3 years, PDF position, MOST satellite data, $50,000/year

·         NSERC, 2005-2011, 5 (extended to 6) years, Univ. of Toronto, $26,900/year

·         CSA, 2005, Concept Study grant, Univ. of Toronto, $30,000, CMOS & optics for BRITE

·         NATO, 2002-2004, 2 year, PDF position, research in binary stars at DDO, $35,000/year

·         NSERC, 2000-2005, 5 years, Univ. of Toronto, $25,000/year

·         NSERC, 2000, instrument grant, Univ. of Toronto, $30,600, CCD system for DDO

·         NSERC, 1996-2000, 5 years, York Univ., $28,000/year

·         NSERC, 1992-1996, 4 years, York Univ., $25,000/year

·         NSERC, 1989-1992, 3 years, York Univ., $30,000/year

·         NSERC, 1987-1990, 3 years, Univ. of Toronto, $30,000/year

·         Connaught, 1987-89, Univ. of Toronto, $14,000 (new faculty)

·         NSERC, 1988, 1 year, Univ. of Toronto, $10,000 (super-computer grant)

·         CSA grant for the Concept Study, 1996/1997, $82,000; not a research grant in the same sense as above, because the funds were for ISTS, to pay my part-time salary there.

 

C. SCHOLARY AND PROFESSIONAL WORK

 

As of March 2010, I have 278 publications. The list is in: http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~rucinski/publications.html

 

 

7. A.  ARTICLES PUBLISHED (last 3 years)

 

1.      Rucinski, S.M., “ The mass ratio and the orbital parameters of the sdOB binary AA Doradus”, 2009, Mon.Not.Roy.Astr.Soc., 393, 2299
2.      Guenther, D. B., Kallinger, T.,Zwintz, K., Weiss, W. W., Kuschnig, R., Casey, M. P., Matthews, J. M., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H. 2009, Asteroseismic Analysis of the Pre-Main-Sequence Stars in NGC 2264, ApJ, 704, 1710
3.      Huber, D., Matthews, J. M., Croll, B., Obbrugger, M., Gruberbauer, M., Guenther, D. B., Weiss, W. W., Rowe, J. F., Kallinger, T., Kuschnig, R., Scholtz, A.L., Moffat, A.F.J., Rucinski, S.M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G.A.H., 2009, A search for p-modes and other variability in the binary system 85 Pegasi using MOST photometry, A&A, 505, 715 
4.      Desmet, M., Aerts, C., Matthews, J. M., Cameron, C., Kuschnig, R., Walker, G. A. H., Yang, S., Bohlender, D., Østensen, R., Briquet, M., Guenther, D.B., Moffat, A.F.J., Rucinski, S.M., Sasselov, D., Weiss, W.W., 2009, MOST reveals Spica as an Eclipsing Binary, AIPC, 1170, 376
5.      Zwintz, K., Hareter, M., Kuschnig, R., Amado, P. J., Nesvacil, N., Rodriguez, E., Diaz-Fraile, D., Weiss, W. W., Pribulla, T., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A.F.J., Rucinski, S.M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G.A.H. 2009, MOST observations of the young open cluster NGC 2264, A&A, 502, 239 Guenther, D. B. et al., “Asteroseismic Analysis of the Pre-Main-Sequence Stars in NGC 2264”, 2009, Astroph.J., 704, 1710
  1. Handler, G. et al., Asteroseismology of Hybrid Pulsators Made Possible: Simultaneous MOST Space Photometry and Ground-Based Spectroscopy of γ Peg, 2009, Astroph.J., 698, L56
  2. Weingrill, J., et al., TT Arietis - observations of a Cataclysmic Variable Star with the MOST Space Telescope, 2009, Comm. Astr, 159, 114
8.      Zwintz, K., et al. MOST photometry of the enigmatic PMS pulsator HD 142666, 2009, Astr. & Astroph., 494, 1031
  1. Pribulla, T., Rucinski, S. M., Blake, R. M., Lu, W., Thomson, J. R., DeBond, H., Karmo, T., de Ridder, A., Ogloza, W., Stachowski, G., Siwak, M., 2009, Radial Velocity Studies of Close Binary Stars. XV, AJ, 137, 3655
  2. Pribulla, T., Rucinski, S. M., DeBond, H., de Ridder, A., Karmo, T., Thomson, J. R., Croll, B., Ogloza, W., Pilecki, Bogumil, Siwak, M., 2009, Radial Velocity Studies of Close Binary Stars. XIV, AJ, 137, 3646
  3. Pribulla, T., Rucinski, S. M., Kuschnig, R., Ogloza, W., Pilecki, B., 2009, DDO spectroscopic survey of MOST variable stars, MNRAS, 392, 847
  4. Rucinski, S. M., Matthews, J. M., Kuschnig, R., Pojmanski, G., Rowe, J., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, Werner W., 2009, Photometric variability of the T Tauri star TW Hya on time-scales of hours to years, MNRAS, 391, 1913
  5. Rowe, J. F., Matthews, J. M., Seager, S., Miller-Ricci, E., Sasselov, D., Kuschnig, R., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, Werner W., 2008, The Very Low Albedo of an Extrasolar Planet: MOST Space-based Photometry of HD 209458, ApJ, 689, 1345
  6. Hareter, M., Kochukhov, O., Lehmann, H., Tsymbal, V., Huber, D., Lenz, P., Weiss, W. W., Matthews, J. M., Rucinski, S., Rowe, J. F., Kuschnig, R., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., Scholtz, A. 2008, MOST discovers a multimode d Scuti star in a triple system: HD 61199, A&A, 492, 185
  7. Pribulla, T., Rucinski, S., Matthews, J. M., Kallinger, T., Kuschnig, R., Rowe, J. F., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, W. W., 2008, MOST satellite photometry of stars in the M67 field: eclipsing binaries, blue stragglers and d Scuti variables, MNRAS, 391, 343
  8. Guenther, D. B., Kallinger, T., Gruberbauer, M., Huber, D., Weiss, W. W., Kuschnig, R., Demarque, P., Robinson, F., Matthews, J. M., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., 2008, The Nature of p-modes and Granulation in Procyon: New MOST Photometry and New Yale Convection Models, ApJ, 687, 1448
  9. Cameron, C., Saio, H., Kuschnig, R., Walker, G. A. H., Matthews, J. M., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Weiss, W. W., 2008, MOST Detects SPBe Pulsations in HD 127756 and HD 217543: Asteroseismic Rotation Rates Independent of vsini, ApJ, 685, 489
  10. Rucinski, S. M., Pribulla, T., 2008, The shortest period field contact binary, MNRAS, 388, 1831
  11. Rucinski, S. M., Pribulla, T., Mochnacki, S. W., Liokumovich, E., Lu, W., DeBond, H., de Ridder, A., Karmo, T., Rock, M., Thomson, J. R., Ogloza, W., Kaminski, K., Ligeza, P., 2008, Radial Velocity Studies of Close Binary Stars. XIII, 2008, AJ, 136, 586
  12. Miller-Ricci, E., Rowe, J. F., Sasselov, D., Matthews, J. M., Kuschnig, R., Croll, B., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, W. W., 2008, MOST Space-based Photometry of the Transiting Exoplanet System HD 189733: Precise Timing Measurements for Transits across an Active Star, ApJ, 682, 593
  13. Miller-Ricci, E., Rowe, J. F., Sasselov, D., Matthews, J. M., Guenther, D. B., Kuschnig, R., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, W. W. 2008, MOST Space-based Photometry of the Transiting Exoplanet System HD 209458: Transit Timing to Search for Additional Planets, ApJ, 682, 586
  14. Kaluzny, J., Thompson, I. B., Rucinski, S. M., Krzeminski, W., 2008, The Cluster Ages Experiment (CASE). III. Analysis of the Eccentric Eclipsing Binary V32 in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397, AJ, 136, 400
  15. Moffat, A. F. J., Marchenko, S. V., Zhilyaev, B. E., Rowe, J. F., Muntean, V., Chené, A.-N., Matthews, J. M., Kuschnig, R., Guenther, D. B., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, W. W., 2008, MOST Finds No Coherent Oscillations in the Hot Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet Star HD 165763 (WR 111), ApJ, 679, L45
  16. Huber, D., Saio, H., Gruberbauer, M., Weiss, W. W., Rowe, J. F., Hareter, M., Kallinger, T., Reegen, P., Matthews, J. M., Kuschnig, R., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., 2008, MOST photometry of the roAp star 10 Aquilae, A&A, 483, 239
  17. Pribulla, T.; Rucinski, S. M., 2008, Radial velocity mapping of Paczyński's star AW UMa: not a contact binary”, MNRAS, 386, 377
  18. Walker, G. A. H.; Croll, B.; Matthews, J. M.; Kuschnig, R.; Huber, D.; Weiss, W. W.; Shkolnik, E.; Rucinski, S. M.; Guenther, D. B.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Sasselov, D. 2008, “MOST detects variability on τ Bootis A possibly induced by its planetary companion”, A&A, 482, 691
  19. Nef, Pascal D.; Rucinski, Slavek M., 2008, “Luminosity function of contact binaries at high galactic latitudes towards the LMC and the SMC”, MNRAS, 385, 2239
  20. Kallinger, T.; Guenther, D. B.; Weiss, W. W.; Hareter, M.; Matthews, J. M.; Kuschnig, R.; Reegen, P.; Walker, G. A. H.; Rucinski, S. M.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Sasselov, D., 2008, “MOST found evidence for solar-type oscillations in the K2 giant star HD 20884”, CoAst, 153, 84
  21. Gruberbauer, M.; Saio, H.; Huber, D.; Kallinger, T.; Weiss, W. W.; Guenther, D. B.; Kuschnig, R.; Matthews, J. M.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Rucinski, S., 2008, “MOST photometry and modeling of the rapidly oscillating (roAp) star γ Equulei”, A&A, 480, 223
  22. Kallinger, T.; Guenther, D. B.; Matthews, J. M.; Weiss, W. W.; Huber, D.; Kuschnig, R.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Rucinski, S. M.; Sasselov, D., 2008, “Nonradial p-modes in the G9.5 giant ɛ Ophiuchi? Pulsation model fits to MOST photometry”, A&A, 478, 497

 

8. NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

 

  1. Rucinski, S. M., Ribas, I., Giménez, A., Harmanec, P., Hilditch, R. W., Kaluzny, J., Niarchos, P., Nordström, B., Oláh, K., Richards, M. T., Scarfe, C. D., Sion, E. M., Torres, G., Vrielmann, S., 2008, Commission 42: Close Binary Stars, IAUTA, 27, 260
  2. Giménez, A., Kawaler, S. D., Aerts, C., Christensen-Dalsgaard, J., Breger, M., Guinan, E. F., Kurtz, D. W., Rucinski, S. M., 2008, Division V: Vaviable Stars, IAUTA, 27, 251

 

10. PAPERS PRESENTED AT MEETINGS AND SYMPOSIA 2008 - 2009

 

  1. Miller-Ricci, E., Rowe, J. F., Sasselov, D., Matthews, J. M., Kuschnig, R., Croll, B., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, W. W., 2009, MOST Spacebased Photometry of HD 189733: Precise Timing Measurements for Transits Across an Active Star, IAUS, 253, 459
  2. Rowe, J. F., Matthews, J. M., Seager, S., Sasselov, D., Kuschnig, R., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Walker, G. A. H., Weiss, W. W., 2009, Towards the Albedo of an Exoplanet: MOST Satellite Observations of Bright Transiting Exoplanetary Systems, IAUS, 253, 121
  3. Majewska, A., Pigulski, A., Rucinski, S. M. 2008, The ongoing campaign on the open cluster h Persei (NGC 869), CoAst.157, 338
  4. Guenther, D. B., Kallinger, T., Huber, D., Gruberbauer, M., Weiss, W. W., Kuschnig, R., Matthews, J. M., Moffat, A. F. J., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H., 2008, Asteroseismology of sun-like stars with MOST, CoAst, 157, 64
  5. Hareter, M., Reegen, P., Kuschnig, R., Weiss, W. W., Matthews, J. M., Rucinski, S. M., Guenther, D. B., Moffat, A. F. J., Sasselov, D., Walker, G. A. H. 208, Data Reduction pipeline for MOST Guide Stars and Application to two Observing Runs, CoAst, 156, 48
  6. Moffat, A. F. J., Marchenko, S. V., Lefèvre, L., Chené, A.-N., St-Louis, N., Zhilyaev, B. E., Aerts, C., Saio, H., Walker, G. A. H., Matthews, J. M., Kuschnig, R., Cameron, C., Rowe, J. F., Guenther, D. B., Rucinski, S. M., Sasselov, D., Weiss, W. W., 2008, Pulsations Beneath the Winds: Unique Precise Photometry from MOST, ASPC, 388, 29

 

D. LIST OF COURSES

 

12. LIST OF COURSES

 

12. A. UNDERGRADUATE (LAST 5 YEARS)

 

AST425: Research Topics in Astronomy, full year; 2008: 9 students; 2009: 6 students

 

AST251: Life on other Worlds. Initially 350 students, shrinking to 280 - 300 students. 3 years, 2006 – 2008.

 

AST 420: Topical Astrophysics (Major ground based and space observatories; Integral transforms in data processing; Interferometric imaging), 3 years: 2004 - 2007.

 

12. B. GRADUATE (LAST 5 YEARS)

 

G1410: “Physics of Stars”, Fall 2007.

 

G1500: Erin Mentuch, Libby Harper-Clark

 

G2000: Graduate Student Seminar, 2004 - 2005, 2005 – 2006

 

 

12. C. HQP SUPERVISED

 

Post-Doctoral Fellows:

 

NATO/NSERC Joint Program: Dr. Wojtek Pych, Analysis of MOST satellite data. Observations of binary stars in globular clusters. Participation in the DDO radial velocity program. 2002 – 2004.

 

CSA Research Enhancement Program: Dr. Theodor Pribulla, Analysis of MOST observations. 2007 – 2008.

 

CSA Research Enhancement Program: Dr. Michael Siwak, Analysis of MOST observations. 2009 – 2010.

 

Doctoral Students:

 

R. Mel Blake, “Spectroscopy and Photometry of Binary Stars in Old Open Clusters”, 1997 – 2002, York University.

 

 

12. D.  HQP SUPERVISION/TEACHING IN PRECEDING YEARS:

 

MSC THESES

 

·         Jun Shi, “Search for Variable Stars in the Globular Cluster NGC 5897”, 1991 – 1994, York University

·         A. Udalski, “Analysis of the IUE Observations of II Pegasi”, 1979 – 1980, Warsaw University

·         E. Bohusz, “Abundance Determination from High-Dispersion Spectra of II Pegasi”, 1979 – 1980, Warsaw University

·         J. Kaluzny, “Four-color Photometry of Contact Binaries: Analysis of the Kitt Peak Data”, 1978 – 1980, Warsaw University

·         A. Przypkowska, “Limb-Darkening Coefficients from Atmosphere Models”, 1978 – 1980, Warsaw University

·         J. Medza, “Photometry of Ksi Bootis”, 1978 – 1979, Warsaw University.

·         M. Staniucha, “Analysis of Batten’s Catalogue of Binary Stars”, 1978 – 1979, Warsaw University

 

PHD THESES

 

·         A. Schwarzenberg-Czerny,  “Theoretical Spectra of Accretion Disks in Cataclysmic Binaries”, 1980, Warsaw University

·         Mel Blake, “Spectroscopy and Photometry of Binary Stars in Old Open Clusters”, 2002, York University

 

E.  ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS

 

13. A.  POSITIONS WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY

 

Associate Director of the David Dunlap Observatory, within the senior administrative management structure of the university, July 1999 – June 2004. July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2008: Faculty member with duties of the Associate Director of the DDO

 

13. B.  ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS OF SCHOLARLY OR ACADEMIC SIGNIFICANCE

 

President of the IAU Commission 42 “Close Binary Stars”, 2006 – 2009.

 

Vice-president International Astronomical Union (IAU), Commission 42, “Close Binary Stars”, 2003 – 2006.

 

Chairman of the JSSA: Joint Subcommittee on Space Astronomy, reporting to the Canadian Space Agency and the Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA), 1995 - 1997.

 

F.  RESEARCH PLANS

 

In spite of being retired since June 30, 2009, I attempt to continue research and supervision of senior HQP.  

 

  1. My current NSERC Discovery grant has been extended to March 2012.
  2. My plan is to re-apply with the focus on the MOST and BRITE satellite missions. I am expected to support research expenditures of the CSA Post-Doc Fellow from my NSERC grant until the end of 2010.
  3. I remain active in the MOST satellite science team. The high research value of this mission has been recently appreciated twice by NASA which requested (and was granted) two months of the satellite time on two successive years of the satellite operations (2009, 2010). For the team, this interaction is meant to increase the visibility of the MOST mission as well as a modest return to American astronomers for their granting of telescope time to Canadian astronomers over many years.
  4. Since 2003, the MOST data consist of more than 130 “primary target” pointings of typically 2 – 6 weeks duration. Only about 15 – 20% of these data have been analyzed and published so far. The total number of stars serendipitously observed by MOST approaches 2,000, but for them even elementary analysis still remains to be done.
  5. Taking into account solar-batteries deterioration, MOST is expected to provide good data for another 2-3 years. Hopefully, the reaction wheels will continue performing so well as by now (none of the 3 main nor the 1 redundant one has failed).  
  6. I would like to use the remaining MOST data in the coming years as material for work for HQP persons (graduate students, Post-Docs). Of note is my recent work on documentation of the non-linearity in the MOST data; I have developed a large software system to handle specific problems of these data. The BRITE mission very much needs younger scientists to participate. 
  7. The BRITE satellite idea has been a great success. This came about because of my excellent working relations with the University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) continuing since my initial leadership of the MOST proposal in 1997. These working relations can be considered as a very fruitful interdisciplinary undertaking between DAA and UTIAS.
  8. The BRITE project started in 2003 thanks to UTIAS’s specific request to develop a nano-satellite astronomical mission.  While funding in Canada of two BRITE’s has been lagging for administrative reasons (but is expected to be approved in 2010), Austria and Poland are each going to launch their own two satellites (in 2011 and 2012). The Polish involvement is through continuing working contacts with former students in that country.
  9. The constellation of 6 BRITE’s will be a powerful fool to study variability of brightest stars which – paradoxically – have the poorest photometry and are best for spectroscopic follow-up studies. I am the member of the 12-person BEST which is the BRITE Executive Science Team which supervises and manages the coordinated use of all satellites of the constellation.