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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
Papers
- Gaopeng Lu, Steven A. Cummer, Jingbo Li, Lucian Zigoneanu, Walter A. Lyons, Mark A. Stanley, William Rison, Paul R. Krehbiel, Harald E. Edens, Ronald J. Thomas, William H. Beasley, Stephanie A. Weiss, Richard J. Blakeslee, Eric C. Bruning, Donald R. MacGorman, Tiffany C. Meyer, Kevin Palivec, Thomas Ashcraft, and Tim Samaras (2013) Coordinated observations of sprites and in-cloud lightning flash structure, American Geophysical Union, JGR Atmospheres
- Walter A. Lyons, T.A. Wanrenr, T.J. Lang, W. Rison, S.A. Cummer, M.G. McHarg, T. Ashcraft, K. Paliivec, J. Yue, T.E. Nelson, H.E. Edens, and M.A. Stanley (2015) Video and Photographic Investigations of Lightning and Transient Luminous Events, American Meteorological Society
- Timothy J. Lang, Walter A. Lyons, Steven A. Cummer, Brody R. Fuchs, Brenda Dolan, Steven A. Rutledge, Paul Krehbiel, William Rison, Mark Stanley, Thomas Ashcraft (2016) Observations of two sprite-producing storms in Colorado, American Geophysical Union, JGR Atmospheres
- David Typinski, Charles Higgins, Richard Flagg, Wes Greenman, Jim Sky, Roger Giuntini, Francisco Reyes, Shing F. Fung, James Brown, Thomas Ashcraft, Larry Dodd, James Thieman, and Leonard Garcia (2020) A Fresh Look at Jovian Decametric Radio Emission Occurrence Probabilities in the CML-Io Phase Plane, American Geophysical Union/NASA conference poster
- Shing F. Fung, Todd S. Anderson, Thomas Ashcraft, Wes Greenman, David Typinski, and James Brown (2020) Thunderstorms as Possible HF Radiation Sources of Propagation TeePee Signatures, American Geophysical Union/NASA conference poster
References[edit]
- ^ "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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Thomas Ashcraft | Citizen Scientist / Scientific Instrument Maker / Observer". NASA Solar System Exploration.
- ^ Blakeslee, Sandra (September 28, 2014). "On the Hunt for a Sprite on a Midsummer's Night". The New York Times.
- ^ "APOD: 2021 March 15 - Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound". apod.nasa.gov.
- ^ "As Sun Flares Up, Sky Watchers Check Microphones". NPR.org.
- ^ "AGU - iPosterSessions.com". agu2020fallmeeting-agu.ipostersessions.com.
- ^ "Heliotown ii". Santa Fe Institute. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ FastDriftBurst101800
- ^ Nott, Robert. "Citizen scientist driven by the need to discover". Santa Fe New Mexican.
- ^ Nemiroff, Robert. "Astronomy Picture of the Day: Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound". APOD. apod.nasa.gov. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Nemiroff, Robert. "Astronomy Picture of the Day: Sprite Lightning at 100,000 Frames Per Second". APOD. apod.nasa.gov. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Mexican, Staci Matlock The New. "Artist-turned-astronomer tracks the galaxy's glowing, traveling orbs". Santa Fe New Mexican.
- ^ "How an Astronomical Mystery Was Explained by High-Tech Photography". Gizmodo.
- ^ "The JOVE Bulletin October 2002 Issue". radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- ^ "APOD: 2021 January 4 - Sprite Lightning at 100000 Frames Per Second". apod.nasa.gov.
- ^ Mann, Adam. "Otherworldly Photos Capture Mysterious Phenomena in Upper Atmosphere". Wired – via www.wired.com.
- ^ "Explorations Of The Invisibles. Freedom & Power In The Electromagnetic • Digicult | Digital Art, Design and Culture". Digicult | Digital Art, Design and Culture. December 5, 2011.
- ^ says, Corazon Ledesma (March 5, 2020). "Thomas Ashcraft's Hopeful Reminder in Fearful Times".
- ^ "Thomas Ashcraft". The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.
External links[edit]
- Heliotown, Thomas Ashcraft's observatory website
- Otherworldly Photos Capture Mysterious Phenomena in Upper Atmosphere, WIRED Science
- Audio: DIY Recordings of Awakening Sun, WIRED Science
- Observing Lightning from the International SpaceStation, March 23, 2021, NASA ScienceCasts
- Listen to a Solar Flare Drown Out Radio Communications Here on Earth, WIRED Science
- Biggest Solar X-Ray Flare on Record - X20 - Sound, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- Living people
- 1951 births
- 20th-century American male artists
- 21st-century American male artists
- Scientists from New Mexico
- 21st-century American astronomers
- 20th-century American astronomers
- Sculptors from New Mexico
- People from Santa Fe, New Mexico
- 21st-century American sculptors
- 20th-century American sculptors
- American male sculptors
- American installation artists