Mike Jura and IRAS, SIRTF, and Spitzer

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1 Mike Jura and IRAS, SIRTF, and Spitzer Michael Werner JPL/Caltech 14 September 2016

2 IRAS

3 Mike Jura foresaw one of IRAS major scientific results In a series of papers between 1980 and 1982, Mike predicted that ordinary galaxies should glow brightly from um This was based on modelling the absorption of star light by dust in the diffuse interstellar medium He predicted that the nearest galaxies could be as bright as 100Jy at 100um This prediction was borne out dramatically by the data from IRAS

4 Far Infrared Emission From Galaxies 100 Jy IRAS Bright Galaxy counts at 100um Soifer et al Mike s Prediction

5 Cosmic Background Radiation Without knowing it, Mike also predicted the spectral energy distribution of the cosmic background radiation half of the stellar photons are absorbed and reradiated in the infrared. MWW-5 -

6 Spitzer Space Telescope Mike was a charter member of the SIRTF Science Working Group when it was formed in 1984 The Ghosts of Spitzers Past

7 SIRTF Mike was named to the SIRTF Science Working Group [SWG] in 1984 The evaluation committee reported: The investigator would add to the SWG a scientist with strong experience in the study of gas and dust in cold, low density regions. He understands the importance of SIRTF observations for the fields of galaxies, the interstellar medium, and circumstellar matter around red giants Over the next decade, Mike worked with the rest of us to bring Spitzer to fruition This required a lot of fancy footwork to keep up with the political tides

8 Spitzer Space Telescope SIRTF SWG, First Meeting 1984 JPL Mission Development Workshop. JPL Internal Use Only. 20-8

9 Spitzer Space Telescope SIRTF SWG, First Meeting Newton, Gezari, Wright, Jura, Werner, Witteborn 1984 Fazio, Rieke, Boggess, Houck, Low, Herter JPL Mission Development Workshop. JPL Internal Use Only. 20-9

10 Mike s Major Contributions to the work of the SIRTF SWG Developed and managed Speakers Bureau Advocated effectively for galactic science with SIRTF Argued for SIRTF lifetime by emphasizing importance of thinking time using simple but compelling arguments

11 Thinking Time SIRTF/Spitzer is its own followup Mike argued that one needs at least a three year mission to realize even one cycle of follow up observations Normalized Citations Annual Rate of Citations Year After Launch Spitzer Archival Vega Paper

12 Mike and the Big Four At a ctiical junction in the life of SIRTF, Mike and George Rieke came up with a suggestion that set us on the road to success This occurred at an SWG retreat in Broomfield, CO, in 1993, where we were trying to figure out how to get SIRTF into a very small box Their suggestion that we focus only on a limited number of science themes was revolutionary for a Great Observatory but carried the day for SIRTF/Spitzer and has been adopted now by JWST The SWG recognized the virtue of this immediately and adopted the following four themes: Brown Dwarfs and Giant Planets Protoplanetary and Protostellar Disks Ultraluminous Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei The Early Universe

13 Mww-13

14 SIRTF SWG 15 th Anniversary MWW

15 Spitzer Space Telescope Pre launch press conference, August 2003.Mike Jura and others in the final MWW-15 activity of the SIRTF SWG

16 Spitzer Space Telescope MWW-16 -

17 Mike and Spitzer Mike was not a hyperactive user of Spitzer 17 Spitzer publications bear his name 9 are on white dwarfs, his most significant Spitzer work and one of our most remarkable scientific results Most of the others address protoplanetary or planetary debris disks

18 Mike Helped Us Find C 60 in the ISM with Spitzer Mike s Comment on our First Paper Confirmatory spectrum shows third C60 line [further evidence from spatial distribution] MWW-18 -

19 Discovery of C 60 in Space by Spitzer [Cami et al scooped us] This is a textbook example of how science works, as the molecule was predicted to be present in space in 1984 by Kroto et al based on laboratory synthesis in a very similar environment MWW-19 -

20 Thank You, Mike! 2010 In this Scientific American article, Mike and I described disks around: Supernovae Brown Dwarfs White Dwarfs [of course] Mike also invited me to teach at UCLA one quarter, and Presented me with outstanding students and post-docs: Christine Chen Peter Plavchan Farisa Morales