About

Mike Kelley is an astronomer at the University of Maryland in College Park. He was lucky enough to see comet Halley in the 3rd grade, and hopes to be lucky enough to see it again in 2061. After observing great comets Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the 1990's, he set forth for a career in astronomy, and has been studying comets since 2001.

He has observed with many telescopes, including the 200-inch at Palomar Observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and SOFIA, a telescope in a Boeing 747-SP. He is a science team member of the Deep Impact eXtended Investigation (DIXI), which flew a spacecraft right past comet Hartley 2 in 2010, and a member of the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time Solar System Science Collaboration.

In 2015, he founded the Cometary Science Newsletter as a way to share cometary news for cometary scientists.

Contact

• Michael S P Kelley
  Department of Astronomy
  University of Maryland
  1113 PSC Bldg., 415
  College Park MD 20742-0001
• Phone: 301-405-3796
• Email: msk@astro.umd.edu
• Office: 1207B CSS (wing 2, marked in red)

Curriculum Vitae

Find more than you wanted to know in the full version.

Education

• Ph.D. Astrophysics, University of Minnesota
• B.S. Physics (Minor Astronomy), Iowa State University

Academic Positions

• Ph.D. Astrophysics, University of Minnesota
• B.S. Physics (Minor Astronomy), Iowa State University

Research Interests

• Comets: Dust dynamics, dust composition, activity
• Asteroids: Thermal properties
• Techniques: Infrared spectroscopy, wide-field time-domain surveys
• Archiving: Planetary Data System Small-Bodies Node Science Staff

Honors and Awards

• 2022
  Distinguished Research Scientist Prize

  Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland

• 2017
  NASA Silver Achievement Medal (OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Astronomy Science Team)

  NASA Headquarters

• 2015
  NASA Group Achievement Award (Comet Siding Spring Observing Team)

  NASA Headquarters

• 2015
  NASA Group Achievement Award (Comet [Siding Spring] Modeling, Prediction, and Assessment Team)

  NASA Headquarters

• 2014
  NASA Group Achievement Award (PDS4 Development Team)

  NASA Headquarters

• 2014
  Letters of recognition for service to NASA's Comet Siding Spring Observing Campaign

  James Green (Director), NASA Planetary Science Division

• 2014
  Minor Planet (9530) Kelleymichael
• 2013
  Letter of recognition for service to NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign

  James Green (Director), NASA Planetary Science Division

• 2013
  Early Career Research Scientist Prize for Excellence

  Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland

• 2011
  NASA Group Achievement Award (EPOXI Science Team)

  NASA Headquarters

• 2005
  Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship

  The Graduate School, University of Minnesota

• 2003
  Visiting Graduate Student Fellowship

  Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6702-7676.

Observing

Observatories I have visited or used for science.