Greg Henry is an astronomer
in the Center of Excellence in Information
Systems and the Center for Automated Space
Science (CASS) at Tennessee State University.
He studied astronomy at Ohio State University
and Vanderbilt University, where he earned
his Master of Science degree in 1979. He
spent several years in the wilds of New
Mexico and West Texas managing observatory
sites for Sacramento Peak Observatory and the
Univerity of Texas McDonald Observatory
before becoming Tennessee State University's
first astronomer in 1988. Over the past
several years, he has pioneered techniques to
make high precision measurements of stellar
brightnesses with robotic telescopes located
in southern Arizona at the Fairborn
Observatory Automatic Photoelectric Telescope
(APT) site. These telescopes now make
observations with greater efficiency, lower
cost, and far better precision than could
ever be attained with previous manual
techniques. Henry has also worked with the NASA Ames Research Center to develop better ways to schedule
and manage the operation of robotic
telescopes through the application of
artificial intelligence techniques.
Henry uses robotic
telescopes to study magnetic activity in a
wide variety of stars. Many stars, like our
own Sun, undergo decades-long cycles of
magnetic and starspot activity. Thus, the
robotic telescopes are ideal for acquiring
the enormous quantities of data required for
these studies. In particular, Henry has been
investigating subtle long-term brightness
changes in several dozen solar-twins, stars
with the same mass and age as the Sun.
Because the solar-twins behave like the Sun,
they should ultimately reveal the nature of
our Sun's long-term solar brightness changes.
This information is needed to evaluate the
potential impact of the Sun's brightness
changes on the earth's climate. Henry's work
appears in various astronomical publications
such as the Astronomical Journal, Astrophysical
Journal, and Publications of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific. For
more information see Greg Henry's home page.
His wife, Mary Ann, heads
the faculty of the Henry Home School (HHS) in
Nashville, TN, where he also serves as math
and science instructor. The exceptional
student body of HHS consistes of Stephen,
Julie Ann, and Daniel. Holly (the squirrel)
serves as the (appropriate) school mascot.
