2006 Jansky Lecture has been POSTPONED. New dates are not yet available.

While he was at the NRAO (1962 - 1965), Low undertook a series of important millimeter wavelength experiments. Conducted in Green Bank, West Virginia, this work exploited his innovative low temperature bolometer detector mounted on a relatively small dish. The success of this early research resulted in Low's proposal to continue with a larger instrument at a drier site, and eventually led to the NRAO millimeter wavelength 36 Foot Telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona.

Low's pioneering work in infrared astronomy began with the development of his sensitive broadband detector that enabled astronomers to observe throughout the infrared spectrum, a breakthrough achievement. Low also developed the first airborne telescope that operated open-port at 50,000 feet. With these novel tools he proved that the two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, generate and emit internal energy. In addition, Low was a primary organizer of the joint American-British-Dutch Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS), the first satellite to observe the universe in the infrared.

Low's astronomical research career has been wide-ranging. His work has included significant contributions to the physics of the Solar System, stars, star formation, the Galactic Center, other galaxies, and quasars. The Kleinmann-Low Nebula, for example, is an unusually active star-forming region in Orion. Discovered in 1967 by Low and his collaborator Douglas Kleinmann, observation of this nebula and its environs at infrared and other wavelengths has led to key advances in our understanding of massive star formation.

Low joined the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in 1965. He became a Steward Observatory Research Professor in 1971, a Regents' Research Professor in 1988, and Regents' Professor Emeritus in 1996. In addition to his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1974, Low has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Helen B. Warner Prize of the American Astronomical Society, the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, the Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation (Am. Astronomical Society). Prof. Low was most recently awarded the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's 2006 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal for lifetime achievement. He is also president and founder of Infrared Laboratories, Inc.

Prof. Low's 2006 Jansky Lecture is entitled, "How the Spitzer Space Telescope was Designed, Tested and Built," and will be presented on October 18 in Charlottesville, Virginia, and on October 20, in Green Bank, West Virginia. The final presentation of the Lecture is being planned for early November in Socorro, New Mexico.

The Karl G. Jansky Lectureship is an honor established by the trustees of Associated Universities, Inc., to recognize outstanding contributions to the advancement of astronomy. First awarded in 1966, it is named in honor of Karl G. Jansky who, in 1932, first detected radio waves from a cosmic source. Further information can be found at http://www.nrao.edu/jansky/janskyprize.shtml .