George K. Miley | |
|---|---|
 Miley (1990) | |
| Born | (1942-03-15)15 March 1942 (age 83) Dublin, Ireland |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin,University of Manchester |
| Known for | astronomy, astronomy for development |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomer |
| Institutions | Leiden Observatory |
George Kildare Miley (born 15 March 1942) is an Irish-Dutchastronomer. He holds a professorship atLeiden University, where he served as director ofLeiden Observatory from 1996 to 2003.[1]
After studying atGonzaga College, Miley obtained his BSc inphysics atUniversity College Dublin in the years 1959–1963, and completed a PhD inradio astronomy at theUniversity of Manchester in 1968.[2] He was a research associate and assistant scientist at theNational Radio Astronomy Observatory until 1970, when he moved toLeiden Observatory as a senior scientist.
He became astronomy professor atLeiden University in 1988, served as the observatory's scientific director 1996–2003, was appointed to aRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Professorship 2003–2008. While Miley remained anchored in Leiden, he accepted several visiting posts: He was a visiting professor atLick Observatory 1977–1978, and a visiting scientist for theinfrared astronomy satelliteIRAS at theJet Propulsion Laboratory 1981–1982. From 1984 to 1988 he was senior astronomer and head of academic affairs at theSpace Telescope Science Institute inBaltimore, as well as anadjunct professor atJohns Hopkins University.[2]
Miley served as vice-president of theInternational Astronomical Union from 2006 to 2012,[3] where his focus was on astronomy and development.[citation needed]
In Manchester, Miley was active atNuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories inradio astronomy, where he was involved in developinglong-baseline interferometry, a high-resolution technique that Miley used to study the properties ofquasars. Miley continued this research during his stay at theNational Radio Astronomy Observatory, establishing a relation between the size and distance of quasars.[2]
Upon his transfer to Leiden, Miley began to work at the newly completedWesterbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). In collaboration with the research group of Harry van der Laan, Miley used the WSRT to study distantradio galaxies, discovered head-tail radio galaxies in clusters, suggested that their radio tails were trails that traced their motion through the clusters and also pinpointed the position of the x-ray sourceCygnus X-1, ablack hole within our own galaxy.[2]
Miley's sabbatical atLick Observatory marked his transition from a radio astronomer to a multi-wavelength astronomer, aided by the development ofdigital astronomical cameras in the 1970s. While researching the "reddest" radio galaxies in the radio and optical regimes, he was involved in the discovery of some of the most distant galaxies known at the time. He expanded his wavelength range further by joining the science team responsible for the infrared satelliteIRAS, working on the mission's pioneering deep infrared surveys. After his return to Leiden, Miley combined his knowledge of techniques optical and infrared astronomy to study further both radio galaxies and the gas that surrounds such galaxies, discovering some of the first cosmic evolution effects known for this class of galaxies.[2]
While Miley's move to theSpace Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore was motivated by a desire to observe with theHubble Space Telescope, theSpace Shuttle Challenger disaster delayed the space telescope's launch, he stayed on as the institute Head of Academic Affairs, continuing his research on high-redshift radio galaxies. After his return to Leiden as a professor in 1988, Miley and his colleagues demonstrated that bright radio galaxies could be used as beacons to locate the first galaxy clusters in the universe, allowing astronomers to examine previously unexplored structures in the early universe.[2]
In 1997, Miley wrote a proposal for a new kind of low-frequency radio telescope, which would allow for an exploration of even earlier eras of the universe. Construction for this telescope, which Miley had dubbedLOFAR, for Low-Frequency Array, began in 2006, led by the Netherlands Institute for Radio AstronomyASTRON. When the telescope was completed in 2017, it consisted of aphased array of 20,000 single antennae in 48 stations, located in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Poland, Great Britain, andIreland.[2][4]
Miley is an active academic teacher, having supervised more than 25 PhD theses since 1978.[2] In 2004, he began to set up anastronomy education program aimed at inspiring young children in 2004, which eventually grew into theUniverse Awareness educational program, a Cornerstone project of the UN-ratified IAU/UNESCOInternational Year of Astronomy in 2009 (IYA2009).[5]
In 1973 Miley went on a lecture tour of China as the first astronomer to visit China after theCultural Revolution. During his term as vice-president of theInternational Astronomical Union, Miley designed the IAU strategic plan "Astronomy for Development," whose main goal was to exploit astronomy for advancing the United Nations sustainable development goals.The strategic plan was adopted at the IAU General Assembly inRio de Janeiro in August 2009.[6] As part of the plan's implementation, the IAU established an Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) at theSouth African Astronomical Observatory inCape Town, South Africa, in 2011.[7] For the creation and establishment of OAD, its director Kevin Govender and the IAU were jointly awarded theEdinburgh Medal in 2016.[8]
