Dr. DavidLeisawitz

Present Positions

Bio and Current Projects

Dr. Leisawitz joined the Goddard Space Flight Center in 1993 to develop and manage the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Guest Investigator Program. In this role he oversaw the creation of the COBE data products. He was pleased to return to Goddard, where he had previously been Dr. Michael Hauser's National Research Council (NRC) Research Associate, after having spent two years at Penn State participating in the development of flight sofware for the X-ray Multi-mirror mission (XMM) Optical Monitor Telescope. In the final year of the COBE mission, Dr. Leisawitz became Deputy Project Scientist, assisting Project Scientist Dr. John Mather with project management duties.

While the COBE mission was winding down, Dr. Leisawitz teamed up with Drs. John Mather and Harvey Moseley and developed a concept for a far-infrared interferometry mission called the Submillimeter Probe of the Evolution of Cosmic Structure (SPECS). SPECS will address four areas of great current interest: the search for the first condensations - the Population III stars - formed early in the evolution of the Universe; the luminosity evolution of galaxies over the eons; the formation of stars; and the evolution of protostellar disks to give rise to planetary systems. We won support for this idea from the National Academy of Sciences in the Decadal Review Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium. With subsequent endorsement from NASA's Space Science Advisory Committee, SPECS was added to the roadmaps for the Universe Division in NASA’s Science Mission Division, Astronomical Search for Origins and Structure and Evolution of the Universe.

In recent years, as SPECS Study Scientist, Dr. Leisawitz has been coordinating and participating in the development of the key mission enabling technologies for SPECS, working to refine the mission concept, and developing design concepts for a pathfinder interferometer called the Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT). SPIRIT is under study as a candidate Origins Probe mission. Dr. Leisawitz is Principal Investigator of a research project titled "Wide-field Imaging Interferometry." Working with a team of Goddard optical engineers and Observational Cosmology Lab colleague Dr. Stephen Rinehart, Dr. Leisawitz developed the Wide-field Imaging Interferometry Testbed (WIIT) to demonstrate and refine a technique for wide-field imaging interferometry applicable to optical/IR wavelengths. The WIIT, which works at optical wavelengths, is a laboratory model of SPIRIT or SPECS, scaled proportionately in size and wavelength. Dr. Leisawitz also participates in research to develop and validate tethered formation flying, a technique that has potential to enable a space-based long baseline stellar interferometer to sample the u-v plane densely, and therefore to yield high-quality images. Finally, Dr. Leisawitz is leading a technology development effort for cryogenic large-aperture mirrors, which will be needed for the Single Aperture Far-IR (SAFIR) telescope, as well as SPIRIT and SPECS. He is also engaged in SAFIR mission design studies.

Dr. Leisawitz enjoys the teamwork and consensus-building aspects of his job. He organized two community workshops, one in 1999 and another in 2002, and co-authored the Community Plan for Far-IR/Submillimeter Space Astronomy, which gave the consensus view of the 2002 workshop participants. The Community Plan is intended as a practical guide to implementing the Decadal Report recommendation that NASA build SAFIR and, ultimately, a kilometer maximum baseline far-IR interferometer (SPECS), with SPIRIT as a step toward SPECS.

Dr. Leisawitz is Mission Scientist for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. (Dr. Edward L. Wright of UCLA is the Principal Investigator.) WISE will map the entire sky with unprecedented sensitivity in the wavelength range 3.5 to 23 microns to establish an essential database for testing theories of the origins of planets, stars and galaxies, and is a science pathfinder for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Dr. Leisawitz has devoted significant effort to Education and Public Outreach for over 20 years through mentoring, K-12 classroom lectures, public lectures, science fair judging, and the development of novel educational products, such as the Multiwavelength Milky Way poster and a 30-minute video called The Milky Way’s Invisible Light. To develop these products Dr. Leisawitz has collaborated with fellow scientists Drs. Seth Digel, Mona Kessel, and Beth Brown, with technical illustrators Ms. Sarah Geitz and Mr. Jay Friedlander, and with professional educators. Some 100,000 copies of the Multiwavelength Milky Way poster have been distributed on request to locations in more than 47 nations around the world, and to sites all over the United States. As a graduate student in the early 1980s, while working at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, Dr. Leisawitz gave weekly astronomy lessons to second graders in Public School No. 3 in Greenwich Village over two consecutive school years. In recent years he has participated as a classroom lecturer in the Challenger Center’s “Window on the Universe” program, which brings scientific educational experiences to underserved children in the Washington, DC public schools. He is particularly fond of speaking to school children about the Milky Way, future NASA space science missions, the methods and philosophy of science, and science as a career. Dr. Leisawitz has been a mentor to an Honors Undergraduate student at Penn State and a Meyerhoff Fellow, two engineers in the Professional Intern Program, two NASA Faculty Fellows, two teacher interns, and nine student interns at Goddard. He was advisor to Senior NRC Research Associate Dr. Lee Mundy (University of Maryland), and NRC Research Associates Drs. Stephen A. Rinehart, Beth A. Brown, and Zhiyu Guo.

Dr. Leisawitz is a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. He has received four Goddard Space Flight Center Special Act awards and a GSFC Research Fellowship. The Research Fellowship enabled him to spend a sabbatical year (2002-03) at the University of Maryland and the Naval Research Laboratory.

Educational Background

Research Interests

Dr. Leisawitz studies star formation and is particularly interested in the formation of planets and the interactions of massive stars with the interstellar medium.

Selected Publications

“Wide-field Imaging Interferometry: Enabling General Astrophysics Observations With TPF-I/Darwin,” D. Leisawitz, S. Rinehart, T. Armstrong, B. Frey, D. Leviton, L. Lobsinger, R. Lyon, A. Martino, L. Mundy, and T. Pauls, in Evolution and Detection of Habitable Planets, S. Unwin, ed., http://planetquest1.jpl.nasa.gov/TPFDarwinConf/confProceedings.cfm (2004)

“The Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed: Progress, Results, and Future Plans,” S. Rinehart, D. Leisawitz, T. Armstrong, B. Frey, D. Leviton, L. Lobsinger, R. Lyon, A. Martino, L. Mundy, and T. Pauls, in Evolution and Detection of Habitable Planets, S. Unwin, ed., http://planetquest1.jpl.nasa.gov/TPFDarwinConf/confProceedings.cfm (2004)

“A SPECS Update: Engineering and Technology Requirements for a Space-based Far-IR Imaging Interferometer,” D. Leisawitz, R. Allen, C.L. Baker, D. Benford, C. Bombardelli, M.J. DiPirro, P. Ehrenfreund, N. Evans, M. Harwit, T.T. Hyde, A. Labeyrie, J. Leitner, A. Liu, E. Lorenzini, R.G. Lyon, J.C. Mather, K. Menten, S.H. Moseley, L.G. Mundy, T. Nakagawa, S. Ollendorf, D.A. Quinn, S.A. Rinehart, J. Roman, S. Satyapal, R.F. Silverberg, H.P. Stahl, M. Swain, T.D. Swanson, W. Traub, E.L. Wright, and H.W. Yorke, in New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry,” W. Traub, ed., Proc. SPIE, 5491, 212 (2004)

“SPECS: The Kilometer-baseline Far-IR Interferometer in NASA's Space Science Roadmap,” D. Leisawitz, T. Abel, R. Allen, D. Benford, A. Blain, C. Bombardelli, D. Calzetti, M.J. DiPirro, P. Ehrenfreund, N. Evans, J. Fischer, M. Harwit, T.T. Hyde, M.J. Kuchner, J. Leitner, E. Lorenzini, J.C. Mather, K. Menten, S.H. Moseley, L.G. Mundy, T. Nakagawa, D. Neufeld, S.A. Rinehart, J. Roman, S. Satyapal, R.F. Silverberg, H.P. Stahl, M. Swain, T.D. Swanson, W. Traub, E.L. Wright, and H.W. Yorke, in Optical, IR, and Millimeter Space Telescopes, J.C. Mather, ed., Proc. SPIE, 5487, 1527 (2004)

“The Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed: Progress, Results, and Future Plans,” S. Rinehart, D. Leisawitz, T. Armstrong, B. Frey, D. Leviton, L. Lobsinger, R. Lyon, A. Martino, L. Mundy, and T. Pauls, in New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry, W. Traub, ed., Proc. SPIE, 5491, 920 (2004)

“The Wide-Field Imaging Interferomtry Testbed: Characterization and Calibration,” S. Rinehart, L. Lobsinger, T. Armstrong, B. Frey, D. Leisawitz, D. Leviton, R. Lyon, A. Martino, L. Mundy, and T. Pauls in New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry, W. Traub, ed., Proc. SPIE, 5491, 1790 (2004)

“Wide-Field Interferometric Imaging: A Powerful Tool for the Terrestrial Planet Finder,” S.A. Rinehart, D.T. Leisawitz, B.J. Frey, D.B. Leviton, L.W. Lobsinger, A.J. Martino, and L.G. Mundy, in The Search for Other Worlds, S.S. Holt & D. Deming, ed., AIP Conf. Proc., 713, 305 (2004)

“Mission Concept for the Single Aperture Far-Infrared (SAFIR) Observatory,” D.J. Benford, M.J. Amato, J.C. Mather, S.H. Moseley, Jr., and D.T. Leisawitz, Ap.Sp.Sci., 294, 177 (2004)

“The Science Case and Mission Concept for the Single Aperture Far-Infrared (SAFIR) Observatory,” D. Lester, D. Benford, A. Blain, C.M. Bradford, M. Dragovan, W. Langer, C. Lawrence, D. Leisawitz, J. Mather, S.H. Moseley, L. Mundy, G. Rieke, G. Stacey, H. Yorke, and E. Young, in Optical, IR, and Millimeter Space Telescopes, J.C. Mather, ed., Proc. SPIE, 5487, 1507 (2004)

“Mirror Requirements for the Single-Aperture Far-IR (SAFIR) Telescope,” P. Stahl, D. Benford, and D. Leisawitz, in Optical, IR, and Millimeter Space Telescopes, J.C. Mather, ed., Proc. SPIE 5487, 1613 (2004)

“SPECS: The Kilometer-baseline Far-IR Interferometer in NASA's Space Science Roadmap,” in Second International Symp. on Formation Flying Missions and Technologies, J. Leitner, ed., http://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/formFlyConf/ (2004)

“NASA’s Far-IR/Submillimeter Roadmap Missions SAFIR and SPECS,” D. Leisawitz, invited paper presented at the 34th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Session E1.5 on Astronomy at IR/Submm Wavelengths and the Microwave Background, P. Wesselius, ed., Adv. Sp. Res., 34, 631 (2004)

“Star and Planet Formation as Seen Through the Eyes of NASA’s Far-IR/ Submillimeter Roadmap Missions SAFIR and SPECS,” D. Leisawitz, D.J. Benford, M. Kuchner, D. Lester, J.C. Mather, D. Neufeld, and H.W. Yorke, in Star Formation at High Angular Resolution, Proc. IAU Symp. 221, Sydney, Australia, poster presentation ( http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/iau221/poster_pres.htm) (2003)

“Prospecting for Heavy Elements with Future Far-IR/ Submillimeter Observatories,” D. Leisawitz, D.J. Benford, A. Kashlinsky, C.R. Lawrence, J.C. Mather, S.H. Moseley, S.A. Rinehart, R.F. Silverberg, and H.W. Yorke in proc. Origins 2002 Conf. The Heavy Element Trail From Galaxies to Habitable Worlds, C. Woodward, ed., in press (2003)

Proceedings of the Second Workshop on New Concepts for Far-IR/ Submillimeter Space Astronomy, D.J. Benford & D.T. Leisawitz, eds. (Washington, DC: NASA), NASA CP-2003-212233 (2003)

“Community Plan for Far-IR/Sub-mm Space Astronomy,” in proc. New Concepts for Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Space Astronomy, D.J. Benford & D.T. Leisawitz, eds. (Washington, DC: NASA), NASA CP-2003-212233, p. xv - xxv (2003)

“Infrared Light Curves of Mira Variable Stars from COBE DIRBE Data,” B.J. Smith, D. Leisawitz, M.W. Castelaz, and D. Luttermoser, AJ, 123, 948 (2002)

“The Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed I: Purpose, Testbed Design, Data, and Synthesis Algorithms,” D. Leisawitz, B.J. Frey, D.B. Leviton, A.J. Martino, W.L. Maynard, L.G. Mundy, S.A. Rinehart, S.H. Teng, and X. Zhang, in Interferometry in Space, M. Shao, ed., Proc. SPIE, 4852, 255 (2002)

“The Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed II: Implementation, Performance, and Plans,” S.A. Rinehart, B.J. Frey, D. Leisawitz, D.B. Leviton, A.J. Martino, W.L. Maynard, L.G. Mundy, S.H. Teng, and X. Zhang, in Interferometry in Space, M. Shao, ed., Proc. SPIE, 4852, 674 (2002)

“The Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed III. Metrology Subsystem,” D.B. Leviton, B.J. Frey, D.T. Leisawitz, A.J. Martino, W.L. Maynard, L.G. Mundy, S.A. Rinehart, S.H. Teng, and X. Zhang, in Interferometry in Space, M. Shao, ed., Proc. SPIE, 4852, 827 (2002)

“Probing the Invisible Universe: The Case for Far-IR/ Submillimeter Interferometry,” D. Leisawitz, T. Armstrong, D. Benford, A. Blain, K. Borne W. Danchi, N. Evans, J. Gardner, D. Gezari, M. Harwit, A. Kashlinsky, W. Langer, C. Lawrence, P. Lawson, D. Lester, J. Mather, S. H. Moseley, L. Mundy, G. Rieke, S. Rinehart, M. Shao, R. Silverberg, D. Spergel, J. Staguhn, M. Swain, W. Traub, S. Unwin, E. Wright, H. Yorke, a "mission white paper" submitted to NASA's SEU Roadmap Committee (2002)

“Charting the Winds that Change the Universe: Far Infrared and Sub-mm Astronomy,” G.H. Rieke, M. Bicay, S. Casey, G. Melnick, J. Peterson, P. Richards, M. Werner, C. Wilson, D. Backman, J. Bechtold, K. Borne, A. Boss, C. Engelbracht, E. Gawiser, W. Langer, W. Latter, C. Lawrence, D. Leisawitz, D. Lester, M. Meyer, A. Quillen, S. Radford, M. Seiffert, D. Spergel, A. Wootten, H. Yorke, and E. Young, a "mission white paper" submitted to NASA's SEU Roadmap Committee (2002)

“The Science Potential of Far-IR/Sub-mm Interferometry and Concepts for the SPIRIT and SPECS Missions,” D. Leisawitz, in Galaxies and their Constituents at the Highest Angular Resolutions, Proc. IAU Symp. 205, R.T. Schilizzi, ed. (San Francisco: ASP), p. 438 (2001)

“Space-based Interferometric Telescopes for the Far Infrared,” M. Shao, W. Danchi, M.J. DiPirro, M. Dragovan, L.D. Feinberg, M. Hagopian, W.D. Langer, C.R. Lawrence, P.R. Lawson, D.T. Leisawitz, J.C. Mather, S. H. Moseley, M.R. Swain, H.W. Yorke, and X. Zhang, in Interferometry in Optical Astronomy, P.J. Lena & A. Quirrenbach, eds., Proc. SPIE, 4006, 772 (2000)

“Scientific Motivation and Technology Requirements for the SPIRIT and SPECS Far-infrared/Submillimeter Space Interferometers,” D.T. Leisawitz, W.C. Danchi, M.J. DiPirro, L.D. Feinberg, D.Y. Gezari, M. Hagopian, W.D. Langer, J.C. Mather, S.H. Moseley, M. Shao, R.F. Silverberg, J. Staguhn, M.R. Swain, H.W. Yorke, and X. Zhang, in UV, Optical, and IR Space Telescopes and Instruments, J.B. Breckinridge & P. Jakobsen, eds., Proc. SPIE, 4013, 36 (2000)

“The COBE Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background. III. Separation of Galactic Emission from the Infrared Sky Brightness,” R.G. Arendt, N. Odegard, J.L. Weiland, T.J. Sodroski, M.G. Hauser, E. Dwek, T. Kelsall, S.H. Moseley, R.F. Silverberg, D. Leisawitz, K. Mitchell, W.T. Reach, and E.L. Wright, ApJ, 508, 74 (1998)

“The COBE Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background. IV. Cosmological Implications,” E. Dwek, R.G. Arendt, M.G. Hauser, D. Fixsen, T. Kelsall, D. Leisawitz, Y.C. Pei, E.L. Wright, J.C. Mather, S.H. Moseley, N. Odegard, R. Shafer, R.F. Silverberg, and J.L. Weiland, ApJ, 508, 106 (1998)

“Comparison of the COBE FIRAS and DIRBE Calibrations,” D.J. Fixsen, J.L. Weiland, S. Brodd, M.G. Hauser, T. Kelsall, D.T. Leisawitz, J.C. Mather, K.A. Jensen, R.A. Schafer, and R.F. Silverberg, ApJ, 490, 482 (1997)

“COBE/DIRBE Observations of the Orion Constellation from the Near- to Far-Infrared,” W.F. Wall, W.T. Reach, M.G. Hauser, R.G. Arendt, J.L. Weiland, G.B. Berriman, C.L. Bennett, E. Dwek, D. Leisawitz, P.M. Mitra, S.F. Odenwald, T.J. Sodroski, and G.N. Toller, ApJ, 456, 566 (1996)

“Far-Infrared Spectral Observations of the Galaxy by COBE,” W.T. Reach, E. Dwek, D.J. Fixsen, T. Hewagama, J.C. Mather, R.A. Shafer, A.J. Banday, C.L. Bennett, E.S. Cheng, R.E. Eplee, Jr., D. Leisawitz, P.M. Lubin, S.M. Read, L.P. Rosen, F.G.D. Shuman, G.F. Smoot, T.J. Sodroski, and E.L. Wright, ApJ, 451, 188 (1995)

“A Model for the Infrared Emission from an OB Star Cluster Environment,” D. Leisawitz, ApJS, 77, 451 (1991)

“A CO Survey of Regions Around 34 Open Clusters. II - Physical Properties of Cataloged Molecular Clouds,” D. Leisawitz, ApJ, 359, 319 (1990)

“A CO Survey of Regions Around 34 Open Clusters,” D. Leisawitz, F.N. Bash, and P. Thaddeus, ApJS, 70, 731 (1989)

“On the Redistribution of OB Star Luminosity and the Warming of Nearby Molecular Clouds,” D. Leisawitz and M.G. Hauser, ApJ, 332, 954 (1988)

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