James R. Houck

James R. Houck
Born(1940-10-05)October 5, 1940
Mobile, Alabama, US
DiedSeptember 18, 2015(2015-09-18) (aged 74)
Ithaca, New York, US
Alma materCarnegie-Mellon University, Cornell University
Occupation(s)professor, lecturer
Known forKey contributions to the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and Spitzer Space Telescope missions
AwardsNASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (1984, 2005)
Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation (2008)
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
InstitutionsCornell University

James Richard Houck (October 5, 1940 – September 18, 2015) was the Kenneth A. Wallace Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University.[1][2]

Houck pioneered infrared observational astronomy, designing detectors and spectrographs that were flown on sounding rockets in the 1960s, on airborne observatories in the 1970s, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) in 1984 and the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2003.[3] He also led development of Cornell's instrumentation for the Palomar Observatory Hale Telescope.

Houck's research outside instrumentation has focused on the mechanisms responsible for energy generation in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs), of which he was a discoverer using the IRAS satellite.[4][5] Houck has also studied the formation of dust in the early Universe.

Houck was a member of the Cornell University Senate and served as the designer and founding director of the Hartung–Boothroyd Observatory.

He was married to Elaine Vezzani, with whom he had two children, until her death in 2011.[6]

  1. ^ CU Astronomy
  2. ^ "Obituary for James R. Houck at Bangs Funeral Home, Inc".
  3. ^ Weedman, Daniel; Barry, Donald; Soifer, Thomas (2 October 2015). "Obituary. James R. Houck". Physics Today (Daily Edition). doi:10.1063/PT.5.6176.
  4. ^ Houck, J. R.; Soifer, B. T.; Neugebauer, G.; Beichman, C. A.; Aumann, H. H.; Clegg, P. E.; Gillett, F. C.; Habing, H. J.; Hauser, M. G. (1984-03-01). "Unidentified point sources in the IRAS minisurvey" (PDF). The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 278: L63–L66. Bibcode:1984ApJ...278L..63H. doi:10.1086/184224. ISSN 0004-637X.
  5. ^ Houck, J. R.; Schneider, D. P.; Danielson, G. E.; Neugebauer, G.; Soifer, B. T.; Beichman, C. A.; Lonsdale, C. J. (1985-03-01). "Unidentified IRAS sources - Ultrahigh-luminosity galaxies" (PDF). The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 290: L5–L8. Bibcode:1985ApJ...290L...5H. doi:10.1086/184431. ISSN 0004-637X.
  6. ^ "Elaine V. Houck Obituary". Ithaca Journal. No. Legacy.com. April 16, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2015.