Distinguished Senior Lecturer
PhD, University of Chicago, 1998
Charles Deering McCormick University Distinguished Lecturer 2010
Arts & Sciences Alumni Teaching Award 2007
2006, 2008-2011 ASG Faculty Honor Roll
Michael Smutko holds a joint appointment as Lecturer in Physics & Astronomy at Northwestern, and as Astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. His PhD research centered on designing and constructing instruments for telescopes. In particular, Smutko is an expert in adaptive optics – a technique that removes the effects of atmospheric turbulence from ground-based telescopes in real time by using mirrors that bend into new shapes hundreds of times a second. Adaptive optics has the potential to revolutionize astronomy by allowing ground-based telescopes to achieve resolutions as good or better than space-based telescopes for a fraction of the cost. He is also interested the process of star formation and is currently collaborating with researchers at the University of Chicago on an infrared study of high-mass star formation regions in our galaxy.
At Northwestern, in addition to teaching, Smutko oversees all operations of the historic Dearborn Telescope. Combining coursework and public outreach, Dearborn hosts over 1500 people each year. He is also the Director of the Adler's Planetarium's Doane Observatory. Together, these observatories house two of the largest telescopes usable by the public in the Midwest. When not working on telescopes, Smutko does everything from developing exhibits at the Adler to giving television, radio, and newspaper interviews on the latest happenings in astronomy -- even if it means working with a cartoon robot every now and then.
Selected Publications
-
G. Wolf-Chase, M. Smutko, R. Sherman, D. A. Harper, and M. Medford Near-Infrared and Millimeter-Wavelength Observations of Mol 160: A Massive Young Protostellar Core Astrophys. J., 745, 116 (2012).
- M. F. Smutko and J. E. Larkin
A Morphological Study of Infrared Line Emission in Compact Star Forming Regions
Astronomical. J. 117, 2448 (1999) - M. F. Smutko
Design and Construction of Deformable Mirrors for the University of Chicago Adaptive Optics System
Pub. Astron. Soc. Pac. 109, 807 (1997) - E. J. Kibblewhite, M. F. Smutko, and M. R. Chun
Deformable Mirrors for Astronomy
Proc. SPIE 1920, 115 (1993)
