The discovery of a new population of star-forming clouds in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy that no one suspected were there, but which now solve part of the mystery of how stars can still form in this rarefied region of the galaxy. Also, the recent work with Sasha Kashlinsky and John Mather on setting very tight limits on the infrared component to the cosmic background radiation field in the infrared.
I have also enjoyed the many trips I have taken to Kitt Peak, the VLA and other observatories, and the discoveries that have come from this work out in the field, and just the ambiance of what traveling to these sites and mingling with other astronomers is like.
Beyond the technical side of astronomy, it is the education side that now occupies my time. I really want to make some difference to the general public in the way they understand science and astronomy. During the 1990's I was fortunate enough to write articles in many magazines, newspapers, publish a few books, and support my Astronomy Cafe web site. The Internet is a great way to help people sort out the many bits if information they get about space and the cosmos. Most of my time at NASA is now spent helping teachers do their jobs better in teaching space science. I am not sure where all of this will lead, but after 20 years doing full-time research and hoping to 'do' education, I am now able to really turn my attention to education.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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