Barbara A. Williams

born:

place:

pre-doctral institution: B.A., Physics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; M.S., Radio Astronomy, University of Maryland at College Park

doctoral institution: Ph.D., Radio Astronomy, University of Maryland at College Park (1981)

current employment: Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware

url: http://www.physics.udel.edu/contact/people/williams.php

email: baw@udel.edu

Graduating from college Phi Beta Kappa in physics, Barbara A. Williams went on to become the first Black female to acquire the terminal degree in astronomy in 1981at the University of Maryland at College Park. Currently an associate professor at the University of Delaware, she is well published in her primary area of specialization: radio observations of compact groups of galaxies.

Expertise: Additional funds are being provided to carry out radio mapping of approximately 12 new compact groups of galaxies. This will double the sample of galaxies studied and make it possible to find compact groups of galaxies in different stages of merging intoeach other. At the present time the existing sample is too small to draw any definitive conclusions about how the neutral hydrogen in compact groups of galaxies evolves as the entire group coalesces into a single object.The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of the local environment and the dynamical evolution of poor clusters of galaxies and compact groups of galaxies. The high densities and low velocity dispersions which characterize these systems make then unique dynamically. This combination is expected to lead to rapid merging of galaxies creating an environment which ought to be effective in altering the initial properties of disk galaxies, especially their neutral hydrogen (HI) gas content. Poorclusters and compact groups provide us with an opportunity to study the dynamical evolution of galaxies within systems that are presumably at different stages of the merging process: compact groups on the verge of the merging, while poor clusters have experienced several mergers in the past. This research can lead to improving our understanding of small groups which are "natural laboratories" for studying the various physical processes which make galaxies evolve so rapidly and can shed light on the interaction of galaxies with each other. Correlations between the HI content of disk galaxies and the local environment in which they are found have demonstrated that the 21-cm spectral line of hydrogen is a powerful tool for studying groups. The local conditions within Morgan poor clusters will be probed directly by measuring the HI content of their disk population and comparing it to the average gas properties of rich clusters and loose and compact groups of galaxies. Extending the data base of HI masses andsensitive upper limits to include the unobserved groups in Hickson's sample of galaxies will give a complete description of the global gas properties of dense groups. Using the detected hydrogen in these groups, a map of its distribution and kinematics should provide clues about the degree of dynamical evolution and the physical compactness of these systems. The local environment, ie neighborhood, in which compact groups are found will also be studied in order to gain some insight into their origin and formation.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1994 - Acting Associate Chair, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, (Spring)

1992 - present Associate Professor 1986 - 1991 Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware

NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD June to August

1984 - 1986 Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

1981 - 1984 Research Associate, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA

Honors:

Outstanding Young Woman of America 1986

Charter Fellow of National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP)

Selected Publications

25."HI Mapping of Compact Groups," B. A. Williams and J. H. van Gorkom in Groups of Galaxies, ed. O.-G. Richter, ASP Conference Series p.77.(1995)

24."Tully-Fisher Distance to M31-like Galaxies in the Coma Cluster," H. R. Rood and B. A. Williams, Mon. Not Roy. Astron. Soc. 263,211-228. (1993)

23."Tully-Fisher Distance to M31-Like Galaxies in the Coma Cluster," H. R. Rood and B. A. Williams, Mon. Not Roy. Astron. Soc. 263, 211-228. (1993)

22."The Distance to the Coma Cluster Using the B-Band Tully-Fisher Relation," M. Fukugita, S. Okamura, K. Tarusawa, H. J. Rood and B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 376, 8 (1991).

21."Neutral Hydrogen Observations of Four MKW - AWM Poor Clusters," B. A. Williams and J. R. Lynch, Astron. J. 101, 1969 (1991).

20."VLA Neutral Hydrogen Imaging of Compact Groups of Galaxies II. HCG 31, 44, and 79," B. A. Williams, P. M. McMahon, and J. H. van Gorkom, Astron, J. 101, 1957 (1991).

19."The Distance to the Coma Cluster Using the B-Band Tully-Fisher Relation," M. Fukugita, S. Okamura, K. Tarusawa, H. J. Rood and B. A. Williams , Astrophy. J. 376, 8 (1991).

18."VLA Neutral Hydrogen Imaging of Compact Groups of Galaxies II," HCG 31, 44, and 79 B. A. Williams, P. M. McMahon, and J. H. van Gorkom, Astron. J. 101, 1957 (1991).

17."Neutral Hydrogen Observations of Four MKW - AWM Poor Clusters," B. A. Williams and J. R. Lynch, Astron. J. 101, 1969 (1991).

16."The Neighborhood of a Compact Group of Galaxies," H. J. Rood and B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 339, 772 (1989).

15."VLA Observations of H I in Compact Groups," B. A. Williams, P. M. McMahon, and J. H. van Gorkom in Clusters of Galaxies Space Telescope Science Institute Workshop, eds. M. J. Fitchett and W. R. Oegerle, STScI, Baltimore p.257 (1989).

14."The Neighborhood of a Compact Group of Galaxies," H. J. Rood and B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 339, 772 (1989).

13."Radio Observations of Compact Groups of Galaxies," B. A. Williams, Proceeding of the Eleventh Meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists, eds. O. Oyedeji, L. Roberts, and W. Williams, Lincoln University, Lincoln University, p.207 (1988).

12."VLA Observations of Hydrogen in HCG 18 ," B. A. Williams and J. H. van Gorkom , Astron. J. 95, 352 (1988).

11."Neutral Hydrogen in Compact Groups of Galaxies," B. A. Williams and H. J. Rood, Astrophy. J. Suppl. 63, 265 (1987).

10."The NGC 4005 Group: A Rotating System of Galaxies," B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 311, 25 (1986).

9."The Intergalactic H I Cloud in Leo: A Spitzer-Baade Collision Product?" H. J. Rood and B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. (Letters) 285, L5 (1985).

8."MKW 10: A Group of Galaxies with a Compact Core ," B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 290, 462 (1985).

7."The Intergalactic H I Cloud in Leo: A Simple Modeling of the Spitzer-Baade Collision Event," H. J. Rood and B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 288, 535 (1985).

6."A Dynamical Study of Two Groups in the Coma/A1367 Supercluster," B. A. Williams, in Clusters and Groups of Galaxies, Vol. III Proceedings eds.F. Mardirossian, G. Giuricin, and M. Mezzetti, Reidel, Dordrecht, p.375 (1984).

5."A Neutral Hydrogen Study of Seyfert's Very Compact Group," J. R. Dickel, H. J. Rood, and B. A. Williams, in Clusters and Groups of Galaxies, Vol. III Proceedings eds. F. Mardirossian, G. Giuricin, and M. Mezzetti, Reidel,Dordrecht, p.389 (1984).

4."Neutral Hydrogen Absorption in the Double Galaxy UGC 6081," B. A. Williams and R. L. Brown, Astron. J. 88, 1749 (1983).

3."The IC 698 Group of Galaxies," B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 271, 461 (1983).

2."The Distribution of Spiral Galaxies in the Direction of the Coma/A1367 Supercluster," B. A. Williams and F. J. Kerr, Astron. J. 86, 953 (1981).

1."H I Observations of Elliptical Galaxies," G. R. Knapp, F. J. Kerr, and B. A. Williams, Astrophy. J. 222, 800 (1978).

references: Fikes: From Banneker to Best: Some Stellar Careers In Astronomy and Astrophysics; Williams home page

 

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