Profile
Scott Acton
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About Me:
I am a scientist from the USA, living in Edinburgh for a year or so. I work at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. My wife (Heidi) volunteers with an organization that serves young mothers.
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I love cycling. Some time ago, I took a year off from my work to bicycle around the world (sort of), to promote the James Webb Space Telescope. You can read about this adventure at www.jwstwbt.com.
My wife and I attend the “City on a Hill” church in Edinburgh.
When I am in the USA, I enjoy working on my 1954 Chevy (www.my54chevy.com).
Some people know me for the “Physics and the Pinewood Derby” video. (www.pinewoodphysics.com)
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My pronouns are:
Strictly speaking, I’m Dr. Acton. But in my field, everyone is a “Dr.” I spent a year in Germany; there, I was Herr Dr. Acton, and my wife was Frau Herr Dr. Acton.
Let’s just dispense with titles. Please call me Scott.
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My Work:
At the Royal Observatory, I am working in a field known as “Adaptive Optics.” When light from an astronomical object passes through our atmosphere, it gets all scrambled up by the heat waves in the air. This creates a blurry image. In Adaptive Optics, we build instruments that cancel out the effects of the atmosphere, allowing us to take very high resolution images, without going into space.
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Prior to coming to the UK, I was a scientist working on the James Webb Space Telescope. My job was to put all of the mirrors in the right place, after launch. This sounds easy, but it was actually quite difficult. We had to put these mirrors in the right place to within a few “nanometers.”
To get an idea of how small these motions are, imaging the the whole primary mirror in the telescope were the size of the USA. One of the mirrors (which are hexagonal) would then be the size of Texas. The accuracy that we had to achieve would then be like a small ant hill.
If you look at my profile, picture, you can see the primary mirror of JWST before it was launched.
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My Typical Day:
My typical day starts about 7:00 AM. I’m on a diet, so I try to avoid a big breakfast. I get to work about 8:45. 100% of my work right now involves sitting in front of a computer, and going to meetings. I have a small lunch with my coworkers, then work for a few more hours.
I’m only working part time now, so I can spend more time doing cool things in this amazing country (Scotland).
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d buy a new bum–mine has a crack.
Sorry about that joke.
I’d use it to travel to a few places in the UK to talk to interested students about working in the fields of astronomy, optics, and engineering.
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Education:
Ph.D. in Physics, Texas Tech Universtiy. DIssertation:
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Untwinkles the stars
What did you want to be after you left school?
A physicist.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes. I booed at "Zezo the Clown" during a school assembly. Also got in trouble for drinking whisky.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Probably trying to set the world record for the oldest person to bicycle around the world.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
This changes frequently. But right now, it is an American Folk Singer names Jesse Welles.
What's your favourite food?
Got to be Pizza.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Lose 20 pounds, more cycling, three more wishes.
Tell us a joke.
A termite walks into a bar and says, "is the bar tender here?"
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
See above answer
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