astronomy

George H. Rieke

George H. Rieke is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand George H. Rieke rather than just read about it. In short: George Henry Rieke (born January 5, 1943), a noted American infrared astronomer, is former Deputy Director of the Steward Observatory and Regents Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He led the experiment design and development team for the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) instrument on NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, and currently chairs the s…

Key takeaways

George H. Rieke belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect George H. Rieke to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George H. Rieke from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Henry Rieke (born January 5, 1943), a noted American infrared astronomer, is former Deputy Director of the Steward Observatory and Regents Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He led the experiment design and development team for the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) instrument on NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, and currently chairs the science team of the Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope.

Career and research Rieke completed his bachelor's degree in physics at Oberlin College. He completed his master's and PhD degrees in physics at Harvard University in 1969. Among other contributions, Rieke and his group discovered ultraluminous infrared galaxies, the starburst phenomenon, studies of the Galactic Center as a prototypical active galactic nucleus, the physical origin of the infrared emission of active galactic nuclei, planetary debris disks, as well as Solar System astronomy at infrared wavelengths. Rieke helped develop the first infrared-optimized telescope and constructed a series of state-of-the-art focal plane instruments. Rieke was involved with the Spacelab 2 infrared telescope, a pioneering infrared space mission. He led the MIPS instrument team for Spitzer. The highly sensitive MIPS camera was built at Ball Aerospace under Rieke's leadership. Also, Rieke is the lead scientist on a team to produce a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for the James Webb Space Telescope.

Honors and awards Rieke was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in mathematics and physics category on May 2, 2003. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2011. He was cited for his contributions as an infrared observer and instrumentalist. He was awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship in 1976, a Vikram Sarabhai Professorship in 1986, a NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award in 1986, a NASA Public Service Medal in 2005, and the Koffler Prize for creative scholarship at the University of Arizona in 2006. He was elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020.

Personal life George Rieke is the son of astronomer and computational chemist Carol Jane Anger Rieke. He is married to the infrared astronomer Marcia J. Rieke.

References

Books Detection of Light: from the Ultraviolet to the Submillimeter, George Rieke, Cambridge University Press, 1994; second edition 2002. The Last of the Great Observatories: Spitzer and the Era of Faster, Better, Cheaper at NASA, George H. Rieke, University of Arizona Press, 2006. Received starred review from Publishedrs Weekly. Measuring the Universe: A Multiwavelength Perspective, George H. Rieke, Cambridge University Press, 2012. Winner of the Chambliss Award for astronomical textbook writing.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George H. Rieke

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George H. Rieke claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to George H. Rieke before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about George H. Rieke ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of George H. Rieke

In research: George H. Rieke appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses George H. Rieke in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: George H. Rieke is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1943 births, American astronomers, Fellows of the American Astronomical Society, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George H. Rieke outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study George H. Rieke in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what George H. Rieke means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain George H. Rieke out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George H. Rieke in simple terms?

Why does George H. Rieke matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study George H. Rieke?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on George H. Rieke.