TIM PUCKETT - Principal Investigator
Tim Puckett started construction of his 60 cm. telescope in 1988
originally to find supernovae. This telescope was completed in 1997. On June 5,
1999, Puckett decided to start a dedicated search for supernovae and has
enlisted a team of part time volunteers to help scan his images.
Puckett's work has been featured on air
at: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, BBC, Good Morning America, Discovery and the Learning
Channel. His work has been published in books and magazines in 20+ countries. A
25+ year veteran in the field, Puckett has operated and tested numerous
telescopes and CCD cameras since 1978. He is currently consulting for the U.S.
Space Command and other professional institutions.
Alex
Langoussis - Co-Investigator
Alex Langoussis
has been looking at the stars since he was 10 years old. A native of Rockford, Illinois, he
now lives near Atlanta,
where for 20 years he was an observatory assistant at Fernbank
Observatory. He currently teaches astronomy at both Kennesaw
State University’s
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Fulton County
Center for Lifelong
Learning. Alex splits his "star time" between supernova hunting and
deep sky observing, exploring the night skies with a 24-inch Starmaster telescope. He has been a member of the supernova
search team since 1998.
Jack Newton - Co-Investigator
Jack Newton is a recently-retired Marks
& Spencer store manager. Jack is an internationally recognized amateur
astronomer and astro-imager. He has helped pioneer
the field of amateur CCD photography, especially the development of high
resolution tri-color imaging. Jack's photographs are well-known to readers of
Astronomy, Sky &Telescope, and CCD Astronomy magazines. He is also a
frequent contributor to other magazines and newspapers around the globe.
Brian Kerns - Co-Investigator
Brian Kerns is a programmer and designer
specializing in the ergonomic interface to spatial data. Kerns' interest in
astronomy started with a 4.5" Newtonian telescope and a major telescope
manufacturer as a client. "One referral led to another and before too
long, I had a handful of commercial astronomy related web sites going, Meade,
Kendrick, Hands On Optics, and a bunch of others, and they are all great people
to work with." says Kerns. Kerns is currently residing in North Dakota,
"That's the great thing about the Internet, you can work from
anywhere and with just about anyone, the Supernova Search Team is a natural for
me."
Ingrid Siegert
- Co-Investigator
Ingrid Siegert
is a professional musician in Atlanta,
Georgia, and
has been an amateur astronomer since the age of 8.
She has been part of the supernova search
team since 1998, and is married to Tim Puckett.
Doug George - Co-Investigator
Doug George is President of Diffraction
Limited and the lead author of MaxIm DL and MaxIm DL/CCD astronomical imaging software. He was also
heavily involved in creating the Desktop Universe software. Doug is a
Professional Engineer with 20 years of experience ranging from digital signal
processing to electromagnetic sensor design. In addition to hunting for
supernovae, Doug co-discovered Comet Skorichenko-George
in December, 1989.
Ajai Sehgal - Co-Investigator
Ajai Sehgal has been involved with
astronomy for 35 years. An expert in software development and digital imagery
analysis, he is the author of Hidden Image and the Maximum Entropy Deconvolution algorithm in MaxIm
DL. Ajai has contributed his 60cm
Ritchey-Chrétien and 50cm folded Newtonian telescope as well as custom software
to the POSS. He is a life member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
and currently resides in Woodinville,
WA and Osoyoos
B.C. where one of the search’s two 50cm telescopes is based.
Lou Cox - Co-Investigator
A retired nuclear reactor operator, Lou
is a life member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Ottawa Center.
He is also a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, AAVSO, IAPPP
and the Deep River Astronomy Club. Lou operates a computer controlled C-14
dedicated solely to Photoelectric Photometery of
Variable Stars. He resides in Deep
River, Ontario.
\Debra Ceravolo - Co-Investigator
Debra Ceravolo
has been interested in astronomy since the age of five after experiencing her
first total solar eclipse. Debra enjoys teaching children all about astronomy,
organizing public displays, workshops, and local star parties. She is currently
the President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Ottawa Centre.
Mike O'Connor - Co-Investigator
Mike O’Connor is an amateur astronomer
from Orchard Park, New York. His interest in astronomy is
rooted in the Apollo moon missions which he would run
home from school to watch as a young boy. His astronomical interests are
diverse and include high resolution CCD and DSLR astrophotography, video
astronomy, occultation timing and GRB imaging. Mike is a member of the Buffalo
Astronomical Association and the AAVSO High Energy Network. He was a member of
the development team for Versions 2 and 3 of Registax,
software for the alignment, stacking and processing of astronomical video
images. When not exploring the night sky, or practicing law, Mike enjoys
spending time with his wife and twin 6 year old boys, playing hockey and racing
sailboats.
ANDREA PELLONI - Co-Investigator
Andrea Pelloni is a just retired 61 years old Airline manager,
from Rome, Italy. Involved in Astronomy from
his 6th birthday, he was particularly interested on NEO, so he has been member
of the SpaceGuard RHP NEO Precovery
Team, obtaining precoveries of 40 NEO. From the
beginning of 2005 he is member of the FMO SpaceWatch
Team, without discoveries in his bag. But in the future...
He has been member and Vice President of the Roman Amateur Astronomers
Association (A.R.A.) steering committee, and he prepares computer-assisted
didactic, writing the software for astronomy shows for the schools.
Jennifer
Tigner - Co-Investigator
Jennifer Tigner
is a student who is very interested in astronomy. She currently lives in Victoria, British
Columbia, and is a long-time junior member of the
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Ottawa Centre. She volunteers with public
activities with the RASC, and has volunteered with the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Jenn
has earned her Messier Certificate, and is very successful in astrophotography,
being published various times including in SkyNews
Magazine.
R. SCOTT IRELAND - Co-Investigator
R. Scott Ireland has lived in South Florida since the age of six, where he has pursued
lifelong interests in astronomy, nature photography (including astrophotography
and underwater photography) and chess. He is a past-president and honorary life
member of the Southern Cross Astronomical Society. In recent years, Scott has
been actively studying and photographing volcanoes. His photographs have
appeared in many books and periodicals in the US
and Europe, and he participated in making a
volcano film for National Geographic Television. Scott is currently writing a
book on astronomical image processing.
ROBERT
GAGLIANO - Co-Investigator
Robert Gagliano,
M.D. is a cancer specialist and avid amateur astronomer who lives
in Cottonwood, Arizona. Robert's interest in astronomy
began at age 9 with a childhood fascination for UFOs, planet Mars, and the
constellations. He is a member of the AstroVerde
Astronomy Club and enjoys SOHO comet hunting. Robert
is a member reviewer for the SpaceWatch FMO Project.
TOM ORFF - Co-Investigator
Tom is currently the Technology
Coordinator for Schuylkill
Haven Area
School District in
addition to his position as Principal Tuba with the Schuylkill Symphony Orchestra.
He is interested in Astrophotography and CCD Imaging and holds the office of
Secretary with the Greater Hazleton Area Astronomical Society in North Eastern
PA. Tom's interest in astronomy dates back to his early childhood years,
although his passion for the stars was ignited when Comet Hale-Bopp visited in 1996.
MIKE PEOPLES - Co-Investigator
EriC BRIGGS - Co-Investigator
Eric Briggs is an active member of the
Toronto Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and a full-time
employee at Khan Scope Centre. He has actively pursued CCD imaging since
participating in the CUREA summer program at Mount Wilson Observatory in 2002.
Anthony Kroes - Co-Investigator
Anthony has had a lifelong interest in astronomy,
and it has been a serious hobby for him since 1995 when he got his first 'real'
telescope, an 8" SCT. Imaging soon followed - a short stint with film,
then on to CCD cameras in 1997. He enjoys the dark skies of the rural farmland
outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin where he currently uses a 12"
Meade and SBIG CCD camera from his roll-off roof observatory. A database
programmer by day, at night Anthony monitors cataclysmic variable stars for the
Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA). He enjoys doing real science as well as
taking a few 'pretty pictures' now and then. He and his wife, Tara, are also
the editors of Green Bay's
Neville Public Museum Astronomical Society newsletter.
PETER CERAVOLO - Co-Investigator
Peter (the
upside down one) is a professional optician and optical designer in from Ottawa Canada.
Peter has had a life long interest in astronomy and has been active in the
amateur astronomical community for 30 years. Peter makes and designs optics for
the scientific and industrial comunities, he made the optics for MOST micro-satellite, Canada's
first space telescope. In addition to astronomy, Peter and his wife Debra, a fellow pilot share a passion for aviation and take to the
sky in their small airplane. Supernova hunting is a family affair with Debra
and Debra's daughter Jenn Tigner
being actively involved
TOM CROWLEY - Co-Investigator
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