Jason Pinkney

Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Check the upcoming astronomy public events

See the new ONU Astronomy Observatory

See the new ONU Astrophoto Gallery

TEACHING

Spring, 2012-2013

          Physics 1061 Stars and Galaxies.
          Physics 2341 Physics I Lab: Mechanics, Sound and Heat. Sections 1,2,4,5.
          Physics 1091 Astronomy Lab: (Stellar and Galactic)
         

Fall, 2012-2013

          Physics 1051 Planetary Astronomy.
          Physics 3471 Introductory Astrophysics
          Physics 2341 Physics I Lab: Mechanics, Sound and Heat.
          Physics 1081 Astronomy Lab: (Planetary Astronomy)
         

Spring, 2011-2012

          Physics 2311 Physics I (Mechanics, Sound, and Heat)
          Physics 1061 Stars and Galaxies.
          Physics 2341 Physics I Lab: Mechanics, Sound and Heat.
          Physics 1091 Astronomy Lab: (Stellar and Galactic)
          Physics 1081 Astronomy Lab: (Planetary Astronomy)
         

Spring, 2010-2011

          Physics 232 Physics of Heat, Sound and Light
          Physics 253 Stellar and Galactic Astronomy.
          Physics 235_01,03 Physics Lab: Heat, Sound and Light.
          Physics 1091 Astronomy Lab: (Stellar and Galactic)
         

Winter, 2010-2011

          Physics 231_03 Mechanics of Solids.
          Physics 231_04 Mechanics of Solids.
          Physics 235_01,03 Physics Lab: Heat, Sound and Light.
          Physics 1081 Planetary Astronomy Lab

Fall, 2010-2011

          On sabbatical at the University of Michigan

RESEARCH  INTERESTS

Students at ONU have done serious research projects with me primarily in the area of supermassive black hole demographics, but also in clusters of galaxies. They work with data from the Hubble Space Telescope and from ground-based observatories like Magellan and the MDM observatory.

• Sample Research Posters by ONU students

• Galaxy Properties and Substructure in the Cluster Abell 160 by Craig Koontz 

• Gas and Stellar Kinematics in the Galaxy NGC 4736 by Andrew Magyar

• ONU Astronomy web pages.   Designed  in collaboration with  ONU students.

• ONU astrophotos
• Galaxies along the Hubble Sequence
• ONU Astronomy Observatory

• Spiral Waves in Rotating Liquid Experiment (SWIRLY).  Built in collaboration with ONU students.

• "Swirly” vposter - PDF.

• Some of my Publications

• Supermassive Black Holes
•  The Black Hole Mass and Extreme Orbital Structure in NGC 1399
• A Stellar Dynamical Measurement of the Black Hole Mass in the Maser Galaxy NGC 4258
• The Masses of Nuclear Black Holes in Luminous Elliptical Galaxies and Implications for the Space Density of the Most Massive Black Holes
• Kinematics of Ten Early-Type Galaxies from HST and Ground-Based Spectroscopy
• Kinematics and Black Hole Mass for the Narrow-Angle Tailed Radio Galaxy NGC 4061
• Substructure in Clusters of Galaxies
  
• Substructure in clusters containing wide-angle tailed radio galaxies. I. New redshifts
• X-ray Wakes in Galaxy Clusters
• X-ray Wakes in Abell 160

Left: a movie made out of the February 20, 2008 lunar eclipse. Individual pictures were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel camera and combined to make a movie using "Gimp" software. The ONU Astronomy Club hosted a viewing of the Moon and Saturn during the eclipse.  The whitest images are from the beginning of the eclipse when the umbra first started covering the Moon. The orange part is during totality when the moon was actually very dark. The eclipsed Moon looks bright only because I increased the exposure time to 5 seconds.

WHERE TO FIND 

• MAIL: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio Northern University, 525 S. Main St., Ada, OH 45810

• E-MAIL: j-pinkney@onu.edu

• OFFICE: 419-772-2740, Rm 111, Science Annex

• OBSERVATORY:  419-772-4028

• OFFICE HOURS for Spring 2013.

MY BACKGROUND

• 1984-1988 -- Macalester College

• 1989-1995 -- NMSU Graduate School in Astronomy

• 1995-1996 -- NMSU Postdoctoral research

• 1996-1997 -- Concordia College Visiting Assistant Professor

• 1997-1998 -- UNLV Visiting Assistant Professor 

• 1998-2002 -- U. Michigan Postdoctoral fellow with the NUKER team. 

• 2002-2004 -- Ohio Northern University Assistant Professor 

• 2010 (Oct) -- ONU Observatory Opens!

• 2004-2012 -- Ohio Northern University Associate Professor

• 2012-present-- Ohio Northern University Professor

Astronomy Links and Astronomy Outreach

ONU Astronomy Club  (You must logon to ONU's Luminis and click on the "Groups" tab.) 

Lima Astronomical Society - Yes! Schoonover Observatory is worth a nighttime visit!

Astronomy Network of Ohio  - See other astronomy programs in Ohio

International Dark Sky Association - dark skies are an endangered species.

ONU's Astronomy Pictures - Images taken with ONU equipment.

ONU's Galaxy Gallery - Titled "Galaxies across the Hubble sequence" this web page is continually improving with the help of our students.

Back to the ONU Physics Department Web page.