Resident Astronomer at the Hobby Eberly Telescope

The University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory invites applications for a Resident Astronomer at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) in the beautiful Davis Mountains of west Texas. The HET is a fully queue scheduled 10-m class optical and near-IR spectroscopic telescope located 6,600 feet above sea level. The observing queue is run by the team of Resident Astronomers who serve as on-site observing specialists, each working about 10 nights per month. Currently the facility instruments include the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), the Low-Resolution Spectrograph 2 (LRS2), and the Habitable-zone Planet Finder spectrograph (HPF). This powerful suite of spectroscopic instruments on one of the world’s largest optical telescopes enables a diverse range of research possibilities.

Key responsibilities of this support position include:

• Leading nightly science observations safely and efficiently from sunset to sunrise, selecting and executing observations of targets from the queue.

• Working with the HET partner scientists to verify the integrity and quality of the observations and helping optimize the scientific productivity of the facility.

• Working with instrument scientists and engineering staff to support, maintain, and document the performance of the HET and its instruments.

• Documenting the current status of science operations through wikis and web pages.

• Conducting projects to characterize and/or improve science operations.

• Contributing to the scientific life at the observatory (up to 25% time available for personal research)

Preferred qualifications

• PhD in astronomy or physics, or equivalent.

• A strong demonstrated commitment to service astronomy.

• Two years of experience leading instrumentation or observations on 3+m class ground-based telescopes in optical and/or near infrared spectroscopy.

• Strong track record of research output and publications, particularly with programs that can make use of instrumentation at the HET.

• Proficiency using Linux operating systems; experience writing code in Python or C++ and capacity to develop software related to data acquisition, reduction, and analysis.

• Proven organizational, managerial, and leadership skills to fill in for the HET Science Operations Manager as needed, and/or to lead a small team on an improvement and/or characterization projects.

Full details and application link are available at

https://utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/MCDONALD-OBSERVATORY/HET-Resident-Astronomer_R_00017560

This position is security-sensitive, and a background check will be conducted. UT is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and committed to diversity.

Salary range: $65k + depending on qualifications