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Research Scientist | Thomas Y. Steiman-Cameron

Thomas Y. Stieman-CameronSenior Scientist
Ph.D. Astronomy, Indiana University,1984.

Contact Information:

Department of Astronomy
Indiana University
Swain West 414
727 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: (812) 855-2400
Email: tomsc [at] astro.indiana.edu

Biographical Information

Dr. Steiman-Cameron joined the IU Astronomy faculty as a Senior Scientist in 2003. He received his B.S. in Astrophysics from Indiana University in 1975, M.S. in Physics from Wichita State University, and Ph.D. in Astronomy from Indiana University in 1984. He was a Carnegie Fellow with Mt. Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories (now known as The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington), a postdoctoral fellow at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, a National Research Council Fellow and later an Ames Associate at NASA Ames Research Center. He has also been a visiting scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz, the University of California Berkeley , and the University of Oregon.

Concurrent with the above research positions, Steiman-Cameron has served as a lecturer in the Department of Physics at Stanford University and as the Associate Academic Director of the Summer Science Program (SSP). He is currently a Trustee of the SSP, which has campuses in Ojai, California and Socorro, New Mexico. He typically teaches A100 (The Solar System).

Research Interests

Much of Steiman-Cameron's research activities involve investigations into the dynamical properties of astrophysical disks, including studies of:

  • nonplanar galactic disks, which form as a result of a minor merger or accretion event,
  • the use of these disks as probes of the distribution of "dark matter" in galaxies,
  • the long-term evolution of gravitationally unstable protostellar disks, and
  • accretion-driven compact stellar X-ray sources.

He also studies the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Milky Way Galaxy, with emphasis on deciphering the geometry of the Galaxy's spiral arms and the arm/interarm properties of the ISM.

Teaching

  • A100 The Solar System
  • A103 The Search for Life in the Universe
  • A105 Stars and Galaxies

Selected Publications

Complete list of refereed publications from ADS