Richard A. Frazin

Associate Research Scientist

Location

1411C Climate & Space Research Building 2455 Hayward Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2143

Related links

• Curriculum vitae

Education

• Ph.D., Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• M.S., Physics, Georgia State University
• B.S., Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Interests

• Statistical signal processing and hardware design for direct imaging of exoplanets
• 3D plasma diagnostics for the solar corona

Biography

I have always been fascinated by how scientists learn about the Universe we all share.  After all, no one  can measure the  temperature in the center of a star or see subatomic particles.  This curiosity about the scientific learning process naturally led me to questions about the information content of various types of data.  In particular, I have been researching issues that involve retrieving 3D (and more D) information from many types of images of the Sun.  Recently, I have become fascinated with the problem of directly imaging planets around other stars.  This is an extraordinarily challenging problem because the star will outshine any of its planets by a factor of one million or more.  This makes the problem somewhat akin to trying to read street signs when driving at night into somebody’s headlights with a dirty windshield.

Publications

Selected

1. Frazin, R.A., “Efficient, nonlinear phase estimation with the nonmodulated pyramid wavefront sensor,” Journal of the Optical Society of America A, v. 35, p. 594 (2018)
2. Frazin, R.A., “Statistical framework for the utilization of simultaneous pupil plane and focal plane telemetry for exoplanet imaging I Accounting for aberrations in multiple planes,” Journal of the Optical Society of America A, v. 33, p. 712 (2016)
3. Frazin, RA., “Utilization of the Wavefront Sensor and Short-exposure Images for Simultaneous Estimation of Quasi-static Aberration and Exoplanet Intensity,” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 767, article id. 21 (2013).
4. Nuevo, F.A., Huang, Z., Frazin, R., Manchester, W.B. IV, Jin, M., Vásquez, A.M., “Evolution of the Global Temperature Structure of the Solar Corona during the Minimum between Solar Cycles 23 and 24,”  The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 773, article id. 9 (2013).
5. Frazin, RA., “Coronal Mass Ejection Reconstruction from Three Viewpoints via Simulation Morphing. I. Theory and Examples,” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 761, article id. 24 (2012).
6. Frazin, R.A.,  Vásquez, A.M., Thompson, W.T., Hewett, R.J., Lamy, P., Llebaria, A., Vourlidas, A., Burkepile, J., “Intercomparison of the LASCO-C2, SECCHI-COR1, SECCHI-COR2, and Mk4 Coronagraphs,” Solar Physics, vol. 280, pp. 273-293 (2012).
7. Huang, Z., Frazin, R.A., Landi, E., Manchester, W.B., Vásquez, A.M., Gombosi, T.I., “Newly Discovered Global Temperature Structures in the Quiet Sun at Solar Minimum,” \emph{The Astrophysical Journal}, vol. 755, article id. 86 (2012).
8. Shearer, P., Frazin, R.A., Hero, A.O. III, Gilbert, A.C., “The First Stray Light Corrected EUV Images of Solar Coronal Holes,” \emph{The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, vol. 749, article id. L8, (2012).