David N. Burrows
Ph.D. in Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1982
Contact Information:
Astro Office: 517
Davey Lab
Mailing Address: 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-2466
FAX: (814) 863-8686
Swift Office:
2582 Gateway Drive
Mailing Address: State College, PA 16801
Phone: (814) 865-7707
FAX: (814) 865-9100
email: burrows@astro.psu.edu
Photos
"We do not ask for what purpose the birds do sing, for their song is pleasure
since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not ask why the
human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens. The diversity
of the phenomena of Nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the
heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be
lacking in fresh nourishment." -- Kepler
Research Interests:
X-ray astronomy instrumentation, diffuse soft X-ray background, local
interstellar medium, supernova remnants.
![[Swift XRT Logo]](http://www.astro.psu.edu/xray/swift/xrt/logos/XRT_Logo_Wht.jpg)
Team leader for the
Swift
X-Ray Telescope,
which is being built by Penn State, Leicester University, and the Brera
Observatory. Swift
is a MIDEX mission which will be launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray
bursts and afterglows. The XRT will measure the positions, spectra, and
light-curves of roughly 1000 gamma-ray bursts and afterglows during its
three-year mission.
![[The Supernova Remnant VRO 42.05.01]](http://www.astro.psu.edu/xray/icons/vro_icon.gif)
X-ray observations of
supernova remnants
reveal information on the temperature, ionization state, and
abundances of the hot gas in their interior.
Click here
for a postscript file (87K bytes, 4 pages) of a paper
on the Orion-Eridanus superbubble (a large cavity in the
interstellar medium created by
stellar winds and heated by supernova explosions) based on
an invited talk
presented at the conference "Roentgenstrahlung from the Universe"
in Wuerzburg, Germany on September 27, 1995.
Soft X-ray shadows
are the X-ray analog of optical dark nebulae such as the
Horsehead nebula, and provide unique information on the distribution
in space
of the emission sources responsible for the soft X-ray diffuse background,
as well as a new technique for investigating the properties of the absorbing
cold clouds. This is a new field of research which graduate student
Jeff Mendenhall and I pioneered in
1991 with the first detection of an X-ray shadow cast by an interstellar
cloud, and is providing new information on both the hot and cold phases
of the interstellar medium.
"The poetry of motion is a phrase much in use, and to enjoy the epic
form of that gratification it is necessary to stand on a hill at a small
hour of the night, and, having first expanded with a sense of difference
from the mass of civilized mankind, who are dreamwrapt and disregardful of
all such proceedings at this time, long and quietly watch your stately
progress through the stars. After such a nocturnal reconnoitre it is
hard to get back to earth, and to believe that the consciousness of
such majestic speeding is derived from a tiny human frame." -- Thomas Hardy
Curriculum Vita (also available as
postscript file)
Phamous Phun Physics Phlubs
Last updated September 11, 1998
Web page by David Burrows ( burrows@astro.psu.edu )
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Penn State University
