Daniel Perley

Hubble Fellow
Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Room 232
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125

Research Interests:

• Gamma-ray bursts (afterglows, progenitors, and environments)
  
• Interstellar extinction; high-redshift dust properties
  
• Star formation in high-redshift galaxies
  
• Massive stellar evolution and supernovae
  
• Data processing software development
  

Education:

• B.A. in Physics (Magna cum Laude), Cornell University (2004)
  
• M.A. in Astrophysics, UC Berkeley (2006)
  
• Ph.D. in Astrophysics, UC Berkeley (2011)
  

Awards:

• 2006: Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award
• 2006: Teaching Effectiveness Award
• 2009: AAS International Travel Grant
  
• 2011: Roger Doxsey Prize (best thesis presentation submitted to AAS meeting)
  
• 2011: Uhl Prize (best astronomy thesis of year from UC Berkeley)
  
• 2012: HST observing funding ($40k)
  
• 2012: Spitzer observing funding ($176k)
  

Refereed Publications:

• First-author papers:
• Perley et al. 2013 - The Afterglow of GRB 130427A from 1 to 10^16 GHz
• Perley et al. 2013 - Radio Constraints on Heavily Obscured Star-formation in Dark GRB Host Galaxies
• Perley et al. 2013 - A Population of Massive, Luminous Galaxies Hosting Heavily Dust-Obscured Gamma-Ray Bursts: Implications for the Use of GRBs as Tracers of Cosmic Star Formation
• Perley et al. 2012 - The Luminous Infrared Host Galaxy of Short-duration GRB 100206A
• Perley et al. 2011 - Monster in the Dark: The Ultraluminous GRB 080607 and its Dusty Environment
• Perley et al. 2010 - Evidence of Supernova-Synthesized Dust from the Afterglow of GRB 071025 at z=5
• Perley et al. 2009 - The Host Galaxies of Swift Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts: Observational Constraints on Highly Obscured and Very High-Redshift GRBs
• Perley et al. 2009 - GRB 080503: Implications of a Naked Short Gamma-Ray Burst Dominated by Extended Emission
• Perley et al. 2008 - GRB 071003: Broadband Follow-up Observations of a Very Bright Gamma-Ray Burst in a Galactic Halo
• Perley et al. 2008 - The Troublesome Broadband Evolution of GRB 061126: Does a Gray Burst Imply Gray Dust?
• Second-author papers:
• Morgan, Perley et al. 2013 - Evidence for Dust Destruction from the Early-time Colour Change of GRB 120119A
• Chen, Perley et al. 2010 - A Mature Dusty Star-Forming Galaxy Hosting GRB 080607 at z=3.036
• Bloom, Perley et al. 2009 - Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion
• Chen, Perley et al. 2009 - High-Redshift Starbursting Dwarf Galaxies Revealed by Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows
• Bloom, Perley et al. 2007 - A Putative Early-Type Host Galaxy for GRB 060502B: Implications for the Progenitors of Short-Duration Hard-Spectrum Bursts
• Foley, Perley et al. 2006 - GRB 050408: A Bright Gamma-Ray Burst Probing an Atypical Galactic Environment
• Third- or fourth-author papers:
• Singer, Cenko, Kasliwal, Perley et al. 2013 - Discovery and redshift of an optical afterglow in 71 square degrees: iPTF13bxl and GRB 130702A
• Cucchiara, Prochaska, Perley, Cenko et al. 2013 - Gemini Spectroscopy of the Short GRB 130603B Afterglow and Host
• Svensson, Levan, Tanvir, Perley et al. 2012 - The dark GRB 080207 in an extremely red host and the implications for gamma-ray bursts in highly obscured environments
• Levan, Tanvir, Cenko, Perley et al. 2011 - An Extremely Luminous Panchromatic Outburst from the Nucleus of a Distant Galaxy
• Guidorzi, Kobayashi, Perley et al. 2011 - A faint optical flash in dust-obscured GRB 080603A: implications for GRB prompt emission mechanisms
• Cobb, Bloom, Perley et al. 2010 - Discovery of SN 2009nz Associated with GRB 091127
• Cenko, Butler, Ofek, Perley et al. 2010 - Unveiling the Origin of GRB 090709A: Lack of Periodicity in a Reddened Cosmological Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst
• Pandey, Swenson, Perley et al. 2010 - GRB 090902B: Afterglow Observations and Implications
• Hurley, Rowlinson, Bellm, Perley et al. 2010 - A new analysis of the short-duration, hard-spectrum GRB 051103, a possible extragalactic soft gamma repeater giant flare
• Levesque, Bloom, Butler, Perley et al. 2010 - GRB090426: the environment of a rest-frame 0.35-s gamma-ray burst at a redshift of 2.609
• Sheffer, Prochaska, Draine, Perley et al. 2009 - The Discovery of Vibrationally Excited H2 in the Molecular Cloud Near GRB 080607
• Prochaska, Sheffer, Perley et al. 2009 - The First Positive Detection of Molecular Gas in a GRB Host Galaxy
• Miller, Chornock, Perley et al. 2009 - The Exceptionally Luminous Type II-Linear Supernova 2008es
• Covino, D'Avanzo, Klotz, Perley et al. 2009 - The complex light curve of the afterglow of GRB071010A
• Butler, Li, Perley et al. 2006 - When Do Internal Shocks End and External Shocks Begin? Early-Time Broadband Modeling of GRB 051111
• Other notable papers with major involvement:
• Cenko et al. 2013 - Discovery of a cosmological, relativistic outburst via its fast-fading optical emission
• Levan et al. 2013 - A new population of ultra-long duration gamma-ray bursts
• Bloom et al. 2009 - A Possible Relativistic Jetted Outburst from a Massive Black Hole Fed by a Tidally Disrupted Star
• Tanvir et al. 2009 - A Gamma-ray burst at a redshift of z~8.2
• Modjaz et al. 2009 - From Shock Breakout to Peak and Beyond: Extensive Panchromatic Observations of the Type Ib Supernova 2008D Associated with Swift X-ray Transient 080109
• Fynbo et al. 2006 - No supernovae associated with two long-duration gamma-ray bursts

Accepted Proposals:

• As PI:
• Spitzer Space Telescope (224 hours) - Spitzer Observations of GRB Hosts: A Legacy Approach
• Spitzer Space Telescope (19 hours) - Understanding the Environmental Dependence of High-Redshift Dust with GRB Hosts
• Spitzer Space Telescope (27 hours) - The Host Galaxies of Dust-Obscured Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Hubble Space Telescope (19 orbits) - Unveiling the Dusty Universe with the Host Galaxies of Obscured GRBs
• Herschel Space Observatory (37 hours P2) - A survey of the host galaxies of dust-obscured gamma-ray bursts
• Keck Observatory (7 nights) - The Redshifts of Dust-Obscured GRBs
• Very Large Array (76 hours) - The Dust-Unbiased Star-Formation Rates of GRB-Selected Star-Forming Galaxies
• Very Large Array (42 hours) - EVLA Observations of a New Population of Infrared-Luminous GRB Host Galaxies
• Palomar Observatory (ToO) - ToO Observations of Exceptional Swift GRBs
• Palomar Observatory (2 nights) - The Stellar Masses of z~0.5 GRB Host Galaxies
• Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy (82 hours) - Target of Opportunity Observations of GRB Afterglows
• Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (4 nights) - Sub-Millimeter Observations of Heavily Dust-Obscured GRB Host Galaxies
• Lick 40-inch Nickel Telescope (10 nights) - Field Calibrations for Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxy Imaging
• As co-I (with major involvement):
• James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (38 hours) - Dark gamma-ray bursts: A missing link between GRBs and cosmic star-formation
• Keck Observatory (30+ nights) - GRB Diversity in a Cosmological Context
• Keck Observatory (ToO) - ToO Observations of GRB Sources
• Gemini Observatories (200+ hours) - Exceptional Swift and Fermi GRBs: Gemini Targets of Opportunity
• Hubble Space Telescope (8 orbits) - When degenerate stars collide: Understanding A New Explosion Phenomenon
• Hubble Space Telescope (4 orbits) - Unveiling the Dusty Starburst Galaxy Hosting GRB080607
• Hubble Space Telescope (87 targets) - A public SNAPSHOT survey of gamma-ray burst host galaxies
• Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (45 hours) - A paradigm change in our view of star formation probed by GRBs

Teaching and Outreach:

• Six semesters of teaching experience as a graduate student instructor. Developed many labs, worksheets and teaching materials still in extensive use in these classes.
• Three semesters as head graduate student instructor for very large classes (200-800 students).
• One semester as co-instructor of Astro 300, a class for first-year students on teaching methods.
• Volunteered as a judge at several high school science fairs, from the regional to international level.
• Assisted at telescope-viewing "star parties" both on campus and at a middle school in minority districts in Oakland.
• Wrote GRB information page for Google Sky.
• Assisted an Iraqi astronomy PhD student by providing computer code and advice.
• Dated (using a proper-motion astrometric technique) a series of old (c.1900) astronomical photographs to verify their authenticity for a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art special exhibition.
• Gave several public lectures to amateur astronomical organizations (e.g., East Bay Astronomical Society).
• Rewrote (essentially from scratch) the Wikipedia article on gamma-ray bursts in 2006 and again in 2009. It is now a featured article, a designation for "the best articles in Wikipedia, as determined by Wikipedia's editors".