Remembering Dr. K. Michael Merrill
At a time when the Observatory is already under a lot of stress and uncertainty, we have lost one of our sages with his quiet wisdom. Many of us worked with Mike for several years, and appreciated his gentle guidance and unobtrusive style, yet he was always available to listen and help. His creative way of thinking and a softly tactful presentation style often led others to see and accept solutions that would never have been considered or noticed otherwise. Mike was a highly respected colleague, and a good friend, with a warmth of character that made you smile inside just to think of him. His calm demeanor and sharp sense of humor kept tense situations relaxed and people found themselves at ease with him. He was much like a life coach to many people within NOAO and always demonstrated the highest ethical and moral fiber. Whether it was work or everyday issues, he would listen carefully and respond sincerely, but would often add that little touch of humor that helped the day along.
It is hard to list all of the facets of NOAO which have benefited from Mikes’s expertise. He was a great reservoir of knowledge, experience, and wisdom about observatory operations. He was a quiet man, but happy to share his thoughts when approached. He often taught by example that an instrument is not delivered until it is producing published science. After NOAO brought its first multi-detector IR imager, SQIID, to the telescope, as the instrument scientist, Mike saw its users choking on a glut of raw data. He broke this bottleneck by producing easy-to-use, well documented software reduction tools derived from his own profound understanding of the interactions between instrument, telescope, and sky. The first instrument to use cryocoolers that are now in near-universal use, SQIID became an instrument of great scientific productivity. As a scientist, Mike was generous about honest error while ethically firm about disseminating, not suppressing, discordant results.
There may be dark matter and dark energy, but he was one of the bright sources here and the loss of his warmth will be ever felt.
Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), part of the National
Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), supports the most diverse
collection of astronomical observatories on Earth for nighttime
optical and infrared astronomy and daytime study of the Sun. Sharing the
mountaintop site
with the National Solar Observatory, KPNO, founded in 1958, operates
three major nighttime telescopes and hosts the facilities of consortia
which operate 22 optical telescopes and two radio telescopes.
(See the Tenant Observatories list.)
Kitt Peak is located 56 miles southwest of Tucson, AZ, in the Schuk Toak
District on the Tohono O'odham Nation and has a Visitor Center open daily
to the public.
If you need to contact someone at NOAO but are uncertain of that person's email
address, simply send email to "first_inital_last_name_at_noao.edu", i.e.,
bsmith_at_noao.edu or jdoe_at_noao.edu. A general
purpose email account has been set up to answer any questions you have about
observing at Kitt Peak and don't know who to ask. Any and all questions you have can be e-mailed to this address: kpno_at_noao.edu and it will be forwarded to the appropriate person.
