Henry C. FergusonI am an astronomer and head of the Science Division at the Space Telescope Science Institute. My astronomical research interests center on galaxy evolution and cosmology.
Current topics include:
The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey(GOODS) -- Deep reference fields for studies of distant galaxies from Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer, the VLT other observatories. This research builds on the original Hubble Deep Fields (North and South), 10-day long exposures with the Hubble Space Telescope of representative patches of sky. Followed in 2003 by the Hubble Ultra Deep Field.
Dissecting, star-by-star, the stellar populations in the outer parts of nearby galaxies, including the Andromeda galaxy, other nearby spiral galaxies, and intergalactic stars in nearby clusters.
Measuring cosmological parameters. Using nearby galaxies to measure the Hubble constant, and more distant supernovae to measure the acceleration of the universe.
The Survey for Ionization in Neutral-Gas Galaxies (SINGG) is a census of the star-forming properties of galaxies that were selected on the basis of their neutral hydrogen content.
Dwarf galaxies. Dwarf elliptical galaxies in particular are the most common type of galaxy in the nearby universe. Their stellar populations reveal a complex star-formation history.
I have recently served on the Science and Technology Definition Team for The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C), which may be the next high-resolution optical telescope after Hubble.
Henry C. Ferguson
