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Leonardo Bronfman
Full Professor
Training and contact
Master's degree in Physics, 1980, University of Chile. PhD in Astrophysics, 1986, Columbia University.
Research Topics:Molecular clouds and young massive stars, Galactic structure, Astronomical Instrumentation.
Area of interest
Galactic distribution and physical properties of molecular clouds and massive star-forming regions: I continue to participate in millimeter and submillimeter line and continuum emission studies to statistically determine the physical properties of the gas and dust involved in massive star formation. The most interesting regions are selected for individual studies with the highest available resolution and sensitivity.
Astronomical Instrumentation: At the DAS Millimeter Wave Laboratory, several projects are underway, with support from CATA, the main one being the optics for frequency band 1 of the ALMA telescope.
Biography
He has been a member of the Department of Astronomy at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (FCFM) of the University of Chile since 1983 and a Full Professor since 1998. He was a Research Associate at the ESO La Silla Observatory (1991-1992); a Research Fellow at the NRO Centre of Excellence, Japan (1996); and a Visiting Scientist at the NRAO, Charlottesville (1997). He has served as Head of the Department of Astronomy on two occasions (1993-1996; 2005-2008).
Since 1994, he has led Chilean participation in the survey of the site for the ALMA telescope and in the protection of the current site for scientific use. In 2005, he founded the Millimeter Wave Laboratory at Cerro Calán; since 2008, he has led the Astronomical Instrumentation area at CATA/Basal. Since 2010, he has coordinated the installation and upgrade of the 1.2-meter millimeter-wavelength telescope at Cerro Calán, for practical training and research in radio astronomy and instrumentation.
Awards and distinctions:
University of Chile Sesquicentennial Prize in Exact Sciences, 1992
Presidential Chair in Science, 1997
Rector's Medal, University of Chile, 1998
Founding President of the Astronomical Society of Chile (2000).
Since 1994, he has led Chilean participation in the survey of the site for the ALMA telescope and in the protection of the current site for scientific use. In 2005, he founded the Millimeter Wave Laboratory at Cerro Calán; since 2008, he has led the Astronomical Instrumentation area at CATA/Basal. Since 2010, he has coordinated the installation and upgrade of the 1.2-meter millimeter-wavelength telescope at Cerro Calán, for practical training and research in radio astronomy and instrumentation.
Awards and distinctions:
University of Chile Sesquicentennial Prize in Exact Sciences, 1992
Presidential Chair in Science, 1997
Rector's Medal, University of Chile, 1998
Founding President of the Astronomical Society of Chile (2000).
Courses, Projects, Recent Publications
- Completion of the first study of molecular clouds in the Southern Milky Way, using the first dedicated mm-wave telescope in the Southern Hemisphere (1982, CTIO), Bronfman, Alvarez, Cohen, and Thaddeus 1989. “A deep CO survey of molecular clouds in the Southern Milky Way”. ApJS 71, 481.
- Derivation of the large-scale distribution and total mass of molecular gas in the Milky Way disk within the solar circle. (Bronfman, Cohen, Alvarez, May, and Thaddeus, 1988. “A CO survey of the Southern Milky Way: the average radial distribution of molecular clouds within the solar circle“. ApJ 324, 248.
- First complete survey of young massive stars embedded in molecular clouds in the Milky Way. Bronfman, Nyman, and May 1996. “A CS(2-1) survey of IRAS point sources with color properties of ultra-compact HII regions”.
- First complete description of the distribution and luminosity of young massive stars embedded in molecular clouds in the Milky Way disk. Bronfman, Casassus, May, and Nyman, 2000. “The radial distribution of OB star formation in the Galaxy” A&A 358, 521.
- Statistical description of the physical properties of massive star-forming regions in the Milky Way. Faúndez, Bronfman, Garay, Chini, Nyman, and May 2004. “SIMBA survey of southern massive star-forming regions”, A&A 426, 97.
- Ultra-sensitive polarization observations of the cosmic microwave background. Readhead, Myers, Pearson, Sievers, Mason, Contaldi, Bond, Altamirano, Bustos, Achermann, Bronfman et al. 2004. “Polarization observations with the Cosmic Background Imager”. Science 306, 846.
- Identification and characterization of the most massive and luminous hot core / molecular outflow in the Milky Way. Bronfman, Garay, Merello, Mardones, May, Brooks, Nyman, and Guesten 2008. Discovery of an extremely high velocity massive and compact molecular outflow in Norma ApJ 672, 391; Merello, Bronfman, Garay, Lo, Evans, Nyman, Cortés, and Cunningham 2013. “ALMA observations of the massive molecular outflow G331.512-0.103”’ ApJ 774L, 7
- Installation and upgrade of the 1.2 m Millimeter-Wave Telescope at Cerro Calán, for student training and instrumentation development. Rodríguez, Finger, Mena, Reyes, Michael, and Bronfman 2014. “A sideband-separating receiver with an IF-hybrid digital spectrometer for the millimeter band” PASP 126, 380
- Design and construction of the Optics for ALMA Band 1 at the Millimeter-Wave Laboratory in Cerro Calán. Tapia, González, Finger, Mena, Monasterio, Reyes, Sánchez, and Bronfman 2017 “High-efficiency broadband refractive optics for ALMA Band-1 (35-52 GHz)” Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves 38, 261
