Erland Myles Standish Jr. (born March 5, 1939) is a mathematical astronomer largely working in the field of solar system dynamics and

celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...

. He is a former professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and had worked for the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

Work

Standish worked on the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Development Ephemeris Jet Propulsion Laboratory Development Ephemeris (abbreviated JPL DE(number), or simply DE(number)) designates one of a series of mathematical models of the Solar System produced at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, for use in sp ...

. Early versions refined the accuracy of these fundamental astronomical data-sets by including many recent and accurate observational data, new types of data, using improved data processing methods, including refined equations of motion which more accurately described the actual physics of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

. With the inclusion of the lunar work of J. G. Williams and others, improved solar, planetary and lunar ephemerides were developed (in Dev. Eph. 102) far enough to have a significant historical as well as current coverage. Later versions of the Development Ephemerides include Development Ephemeris DE200, which was officially used in the

Astronomical Almanac The ''Astronomical Almanac''The ''Astronomical Almanac'' for the Year 2024, © Crown Copyright 2023, ISSN 0737-6421 . is an almanac published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office; it also includes data supplied by many scientists from around ...

(and in derived form, also in the Nautical Almanac) as the basis for the ephemerides of sun, moon and planets from 1984 through 2002; and

DE405 Jet Propulsion Laboratory Development Ephemeris (abbreviated JPL DE(number), or simply DE(number)) designates one of a series of mathematical models of the Solar System produced at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, for use in sp ...

, which has been the basis of the corresponding ephemerides in the Astronomical Almanac and Nautical Almanac from and including 2003, to the present date. Later examples of the Development Ephemerides supported the navigation of specific

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

planetary space missions with precise results. Standish's work towards the development of the ephemerides took him also into the field of the history of astronomy, including study of the recently noted occurrence of

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

in the notes of Galileo, identifying an additional manuscript observation of Neptune by Galileo (who had regarded it as a background star while studying the satellites of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

), and analyzing its significance for the modern-day ephemerides.Standish, E. M. & Nobili, A. M. (1997)
''Galileo's observations of Neptune''
''Baltic Astronomy'', vol. 6, pp. 97–104. Standish has collaborated with Dr. Elena V. Pitjeva and Dr. Agnes Fienga on the topic of a better determination of the

Astronomical Unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au or AU) is a unit of length defined to be exactly equal to . Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its m ...

and of the masses of the

asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

. Standish has also dealt with the

Pioneer Anomaly The Pioneer anomaly, or Pioneer effect, was the observed deviation from predicted accelerations of the ''Pioneer 10'' and ''Pioneer 11'' spacecraft after they passed about on their trajectories out of the Solar System. The apparent anomaly was ...

issue by modeling it in a modified version of the usual ephemerides and fitting such a new dynamical theory of planetary motions to the usual, well-established observational data set.

Awards

In 2008, Standish received the

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...

; in 2015, he was given

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

's Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Bibliometric information

According to the

NASA ADS The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers on astronomy and physics, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS maintains three bibliographic collections containing over 15 m ...

database, Standish's

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with success indicators such as winning t ...

is 21, with a total number of citations, self-citations being excluded, equal to 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standish, E. Myles California Institute of Technology faculty Living people 1939 births American astronomers Yale University faculty Yale University alumni Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal