Marc Postman

<h2 id="career">Career</h2>
Postman was the lead or co-investigator on several joint science and engineering working groups exploring the feasibility and science capabilities of future large optical / near infrared telescopes on the ground and in space. He served on the science and technology definition team for the <a href="/facts/Large_Ultraviolet_Optical_Infrared_Surveyor/LlCpU4XC">Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor</a> concept (aka LUVOIR), which was proposed to the 2020 <a href="/facts/Astronomy_and_Astrophysics_Decadal_Survey/xxYLYVpM">Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey</a>. A modified version of this concept, the Habitable Worlds Observatory, is now being developed by <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>. He was a member of the <a href="/facts/Hubble_Space_Telescope/NQeIf0vw">Hubble Space Telescope</a> <a href="/facts/Advanced_Camera_for_Surveys/bGSJsjyK">Advanced Camera for Surveys</a> investigation team and project scientist for the STScI <a href="/facts/Digitized_Sky_Survey/frYcmGGw">Digitized Sky Survey</a> program. He has also served on the Council of the <a href="/facts/American_Astronomical_Society/f5ohaItD">American Astronomical Society</a> and on the Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy. Postman was the <a href="/facts/Principal_investigator/GXE6ILvW">Principal Investigator</a> of the HST multi-cycle treasury program <a href="/facts/Cluster_Lensing_and_Supernova_survey_with_Hubble/qtMnl5mP">Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble</a>, a study of <a href="/facts/Dark_matter/y5HgX55N">dark matter</a> in clusters of galaxies. Postman is also a guest investigator on the <a href="/facts/New_Horizons/G5XTU5DK">New Horizons</a> science team to study the ultraviolet and optical background radiation field as seen from the unique vantage point beyond 45 AU from the Sun. 
Postman attended the <a href="/facts/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology/Xk49vNA8">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> as an undergraduate from 1978 to 1981, receiving a S.B. in <a href="/facts/Physics/a7aH2y08">Physics</a> in 1981. He then went on to obtain his Ph.D. in <a href="/facts/Astronomy/0ArJVM1p">Astronomy</a> at <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a>, working with Dr. <a href="/facts/Margaret_Geller/9hd98f7t">Margaret Geller</a>. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1986, he was a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. <a href="/facts/James_E._Gunn_(astronomer)/BgQ3khwn">James E. Gunn</a> in <a href="/facts/Princeton_University/n3EPGHBM">Princeton University</a>’s Department of Astronomy. In 1989, he joined the scientific research staff at the <a href="/facts/Space_Telescope_Science_Institute/kPnzlp8h">Space Telescope Science Institute</a>. Postman is currently the interim Deputy Director of the <a href="/facts/Space_Telescope_Science_Institute/kPnzlp8h">Space Telescope Science Institute</a>.
Marc Postman is the son of educator, author and cultural critic <a href="/facts/Neil_Postman/1slxpcBL">Neil Postman</a>.

<h2 id="awards-and-honors">Awards and honors</h2>
Postman received the <a href="/facts/Association_of_Universities_for_Research_in_Astronomy/Ah7w1RQy">Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy</a> (AURA)’s Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award in 1993 and again in 2013.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> Asteroid <a href="/facts/166746_Marcpostman/dIXwodmV">166746 Marcpostman</a> discovered by the <a href="/facts/Sloan_Digital_Sky_Survey/MSHAk1RU">Sloan Digital Sky Survey</a> at <a href="/facts/Apache_Point_Observatory/UPJCGavT">Apache Point Observatory</a> in 2002, was named in his honor.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> The official <a href="/facts/Meanings_of_minor-planet_names%3a_166001%25E2%2580%2593167000/JT8VAdeF">naming citation</a> was published by the <a href="/facts/Minor_Planet_Center/v8T7sdK4">Minor Planet Center</a> on 27 January 2013 (<a href="/facts/Minor_Planet_Circulars/v8T7sdK4">M.P.C.</a> 82401).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>
He was elected a Legacy Fellow of the <a href="/facts/American_Astronomical_Society/f5ohaItD">American Astronomical Society</a> in 2020.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.stsci.edu/~postman">Marc Postman's web page at STScI</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.luvoirtelescope.org/">LUVOIR Telescope Mission Concept web page</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">"STScI Home". <a href="https://www.stsci.edu/who-we-are/leadership/marc-postman" target="_blank">https://www.stsci.edu/who-we-are/leadership/marc-postman</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Lauer, Tod R.; Postman, Marc; Strauss, Michael A.; Graves, Genevieve J.; Chisari, Nora E. (2014). "Brightest Cluster Galaxies at the Present Epoch". The Astrophysical Journal. 797 (2): 82. arXiv:1407.2260. Bibcode:2014ApJ...797...82L. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/797/2/82. S2CID 118315557. <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/797/2/82/pdf" target="_blank">https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/797/2/82/pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Fogarty, Kevin; Postman, Marc; Larson, Rebecca; Donahue, Megan; Moustakas, John (2017). "The Relationship Between Brightest Cluster Galaxy Star Formation and the Intracluster Medium in CLASH". The Astrophysical Journal. 846 (2): 103. arXiv:1701.05903. Bibcode:2017ApJ...846..103F. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa82b9. S2CID 119065090. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Faa82b9" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Faa82b9</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Fogarty, Kevin; Postman, Marc; Li, Yuan; Dannerbauer, Helmut; Liu, Hauyu Baobab; Donahue, Megan; Ziegler, Bodo; Koekemoer, Anton; Frye, Brenda (2019). "The Dust and Molecular Gas in the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in MACS 1931.8-2635". The Astrophysical Journal. 879 (2): 103. arXiv:1905.01377. Bibcode:2019ApJ...879..103F. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab22a4. hdl:10150/633838. S2CID 146120608. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fab22a4" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fab22a4</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Gültekin, Kayhan; Burke-Spolaor, Sarah; Lauer, Tod R.; w. Lazio, T. Joseph; Moustakas, Leonidas A.; Ogle, Patrick; Postman, Marc (2021). "Chandra Observations of Abell 2261 Brightest Cluster Galaxy, a Candidate Host to a Recoiling Black Hole". The Astrophysical Journal. 906 (1): 48. arXiv:2010.13980. Bibcode:2021ApJ...906...48G. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abc483. S2CID 225075966. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fabc483" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fabc483</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Lauer, Tod R.; Postman, Marc; Weaver, Harold A.; Spencer, John R.; Stern, S. Alan; Buie, Marc W.; Durda, Daniel D.; Lisse, Carey M.; Poppe, A. R.; Binzel, Richard P.; Britt, Daniel T.; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Cheng, Andrew F.; Grundy, W. M.; Horányi, Mihaly; Kavelaars, J. J.; Linscott, Ivan R.; McKinnon, William B.; Moore, Jeffrey M.; Núñez, J. I.; Olkin, Catherine B.; Parker, Joel W.; Porter, Simon B.; Reuter, Dennis C.; Robbins, Stuart J.; Schenk, Paul; Showalter, Mark R.; Singer, Kelsi N.; Verbiscer, Anne J.; Young, Leslie A. (2021). "New Horizons Observations of the Cosmic Optical Background". The Astrophysical Journal. 906 (2): 77. arXiv:2011.03052. Bibcode:2021ApJ...906...77L. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abc881. hdl:1721.1/133770.2. S2CID 226277978. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fabc881" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fabc881</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Lauer, Tod R.; Postman, Marc; Spencer, John R.; Weaver, Harold A.; Stern, S. Alan; Gladstone, G. Randall; Binzel, Richard P.; Britt, Daniel T.; Buie, Marc W.; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Cheng, Andrew F.; Grundy, W. M.; Horányi, Mihaly; Kavelaars, J. J.; Linscott, Ivan R.; Lisse, Carey M.; McKinnon, William B.; McNutt, Ralph L.; Moore, Jeffrey M.; Núñez, J. I.; Olkin, Catherine B.; Parker, Joel W.; Porter, Simon B.; Reuter, Dennis C.; Robbins, Stuart J.; Schenk, Paul M.; Showalter, Mark R.; Singer, Kelsi N.; Verbiscer, Anne. J.; Young, Leslie A. (2022). "Anomalous Flux in the Cosmic Optical Background Detected with New Horizons Observations". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 927 (1): L8. arXiv:2202.04273. Bibcode:2022ApJ...927L...8L. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac573d. S2CID 246680032. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847%2F2041-8213%2Fac573d" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3847%2F2041-8213%2Fac573d</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"AURA Home". <a href="http://www.aura-astronomy.org/news/pastawards.asp" target="_blank">http://www.aura-astronomy.org/news/pastawards.asp</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">"JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 166746 Marcpostman (2002 TY311)" (2019-02-11 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 18 August 2019. <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2166746#discovery" target="_blank">https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2166746#discovery</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">"MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 August 2019. <a href="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html" target="_blank">https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">"AAS Fellows". AAS. Retrieved 30 September 2020. <a href="https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows" target="_blank">https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Marc Postman open-in-new

Marc Postman