A
Symposium honoring Thomas G. Phillips was held on February 23rd–24th,
2009. 
Over
one hundred twenty scientists from all over the world gathered to
discuss the latest
advances in submillimeter astrophysics and technology on February
23rd–24th, 2009 at the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The symposium was held to honor Professor Thomas G.
Phillips, the director of the Caltech
Submillimeter Observatory (CSO).
Starting in the early 1970's, Professor Phillips pioneered
submillimeter spectroscopy using his InSb hot-electron bolometer
receiver, and detected numerous
atomic and molecular species in the interstellar medium, including the
surprisingly abundant neutral
carbon atom. In 1979, Professor Phillips co-invented the
superconducting SIS mixer, which
completely revolutionized the field and is the fundamental enabling
technology for both
Atacama Large Millimeter Array
(ALMA) and the HIFI
instrument for Herschel.
As the
Owens Valley Radio Observatory
(OVRO) director in the early 1980's, Professor Phillips
completed the construction of the three-element millimeter-wave
interferometer that is now part
of the Combined Array for Research
in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA),
and then moved on to the construction of the CSO on Mauna Kea,
completed in 1986.
With ALMA well into its construction phase, Herschel soon
to be launched, and powerful new
technologies, instruments, and projects on the horizon, astrophysics at
submillimeter wavelengths is
finally emerging from its early pioneering phase and is rapidly
advancing toward the scientific
forefront with an ever-accelerating stream of major new results. This
is the legacy of Professor Phillips,
who, for nearly four decades, has been at the center of the most
important developments in this field.
Please find more details about the symposium on the symposium web site.
Figure 1. A
conference photo taken on the 23rd of Februady 2009.
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