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H. A. Smith is a Professor of
Physics and Astronomy at MSU.

He is the world's foremost authority on the pulsating variable stars known as RR Lyraes. These stars are of primary importance for measuring distances to nearby galaxies and setting the scale of the Universe.


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To use RR Lyraes to measure distance, Smith models their atmospheres and compares their observed light variations with those predicted by the models.


* These stars can be found both inside our own galaxy and in more distant galaxies, such as the Small Magellanic Cloud, shown to the right, which are satellites of the Milky Way.




* Click here for information on the Milky Way Satellite Galaxies *
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Susan Simkin (Simkin@grus.pa.msu.edu) last updated: 03 Nov '96