. : http://www.eso.org/~sxu/MJ.html
: Mon Feb 15 21:48:42 2016
: Sun Apr 10 21:22:52 2016
: koi8-r
I personally like the Chinese version much better. I guess I still need to work on my English... My Advisor Michael Jura My Ph.D. advisor Michael Jura passed away on January 30th, 2016. He was an amazing advisor and a great friend to me. He was one of the most important people in my life. Words cannot express my feelings. I first met Mike in the summer of 2009. I was a junior undergraduate in the department of astronomy in Nanjing University. I was very lucky to be selected for a 10-week research program (CSST: Cross-disciplinary Scholars in Science and Technology) at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). Mike was my advisor for the summer program and I had a great time working with him. It was my very first real research experience and I loved observational astronomy. Afterwards, Mike was very kind to write a lot of letters of recommendations for me for graduate school and I got into a few. I decided to go to UCLA for graduate school to work with him I think that is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Everything went quite smoothly afterwards, thanks to Mike. I got my Masters degree and Ph.D. in 4 years and now I am a postdoc fellow at the European Southern Observatory. Mike had a very sharp mind and he was always ready to discover new things. I enjoyed our lively and interesting discussions a lot. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to work with him so closely. Not only did he teach me how to identify and solve a scientific question, he also taught me to have a clear picture of myself. The most important lesson I learned from Mike is to be honest about my mistakes. He kept reminding me The only people who make no mistakes are dead people. One time, we were making observing plans for the Hubble Space Telescope. We lost some precious observing time because I overlooked one issue. I was very upset but Mike was very calm about this. He said things like this happen and that is how you make progress. Mike always encouraged me to work on projects that interested me the most rather than forcing me into a topic. I like doing observation and often think about projects with different telescopes. Mike would bring me down to Earth and teach me to do some good order-of-magnitude calculations. He would insist on having a clear physical picture and a goal before writing an observing proposal. Mike also taught me to be proud of who I am. Ever since we started learning English in elementary school, we were asked to pick an English name. When I first went to US for graduate school, I also used my English name so foreigners can pronounce it. One time, Mike asked me, Why dont you use your real name? After that, I would always take time to teach people to pronounce Siyi because I want them to call my real name. When we started to write papers together, Mike had the idea that my Chinese name should be included so that all my friends in China would know that I wrote the paper. He took the effort to send these suggestions to the editors of different journals. Right now, all the mainstream astronomical journals (e.g. Astrophysical Journal, Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notice of Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomy & Astrophysics) allow the authors to display their names in their native language in the parentheses. I think our paper set a good example. Mike was always extremely patient and careful with all the projects we worked on. For my very first paper, we kept revising the manuscript and the final version ended up being version u (21st version). I was worried what would happen if we used up all 26 letters. For each version, Mike would give very detailed comments within 1-2 days. Sometimes, his comments were much longer than the manuscript itself. Because English is not my native language, Mike would also spend a significant amount of time improving the grammar and then explain them to me one by one. Mike often talked about a story to motivate me to work on my English. He said that he had a friend who also had a Chinese student. The student had to spend one extra year in graduate school just to improve his English. Mike often talked about Hofstadters Law, which says It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadters Law. We always started to plan things as early as possible. For example, very often we were the first to finish writing an observing proposal (our proposal ID often ended up as 001), sometimes even before others have started working on it. Mike worked very hard. I often received emails from him at 2am about some ideas that he just had in the dream. However, he was very respectful about my own private time. He often encouraged me to go to the beach and enjoy the weekend. During our last conversation, Mike said, I am having a lot of pains right now. Please keep me in your thoughts. I will need those to get through the day. Mike, you will always be in my thoughts. I bet the world you are living in right now has no pains or mistakes, only peace and happiness? Perhaps you are up there with all the white dwarf stars? Siyi Xu 2016.02.15 ԈÚůŸMichael Jura ůŸԘ2016Ź1Ԝ30ԗĸōյÚրտŎÚōĸԜμԯԯԃňԭμŰſ×ԗԯրťŃÞȗśňĺňŐňտĸřՀÚԗňμĸňȃԝÚŤêÄμԈտԲԜԝžŏկŸņէμĻōŷû԰տŜæżĺր ԜԗծկůŸԘŜ2009ŹÚŤŤμȂԗԈտŜōĺŤŭŤԖèկԜçրԈžŹտԜԜļŎŊŷŤŭԴԝßňԠ(UCLA)ŏŊōĸԘԜÚԚԜĺԍCSST (Cross-disciplinary Scholars in Science and Technology)μŽԗĻŰԘԈÚůŸրōĸԘԜÚԗȗžßμōծԈìĸԬÜԭĽļňĺŁçàÚĹնμĹծԈĽȪňĽÔԜտȕŁŤԖէԵԘĸĻտĹԜԄԀÚĺԃրŐԝμůŸûԈņĺԎՍĿμԈĹžȡňŜԋň垍þśàéÔșÚŽŏȀßĹրĹŐԈտԘȀԋĺŎUCLAûûշĻԔկ៌ōŸμԈէžտԘԈտվŭŁÚԜԭáÚņŮĹĸրŭԜĸμůŸůԈզԱžĸԠμÔԴĸμůŸůԈĹžŅſրĹŐÚĸňȃžȡňμ4ŹÚԗȗԈŰԋňĺ៌ōŸŭĽμÎŜԈŜԬԴōԖŤԖŏ(ESO)ûûŁōŸŐàéŷĽμտĺȃæĸżůŸůԈÚԕůր ůŸԜȝŸԕȔÚԴԟŊμԀՃÜňžŤňĺԲԜŏÎÚȗȢրĻžȸնŹȻμԯԬŒĻծԀԜȝŸԄŤÚԔՎրÎŜśԃյԝμůŸĸĻԕļĺԈŦĽŎŏÎŒէņĸĸçŭȗȢμԛԕļĺԈŦĽŎծկՇŷր ԈĻůŸȂȇŭĹňÚԜȇզÚĸկŰԘÛȝՇŷÚȔկրĻԀԘկμտĸĸÕĸŔĸĸÊȔÚĺŰԘԭĺրԜĸԬμԈĻŜծծœŋéȗԜտȕÚէԵԖԡμÔĺԈÚĸĸÖſμծԈĻԍŤĺžŤէԵԗȗրĸԭμԈȝŸԇԁμĸԙĸȃԲԜÝťրìĺŤէňůŸμĻōԷÄՇՋμտŮԅԈկԲĺÚμŏզĽŭļĺμĸԬĸņÊŐԠÚȔկŰŏĻĺμĺŰԘտԠտԭÚր ůŸĻԝĸļőĻԈŎŁĻĽկȢμԀļȼŊԈŎàéՇŷԄŅնÚȗȢ րԈžŖԬŁŤԖէԵμԀԃÝÔĸÕĸŐçԜտȕŁԜնÚէԵրůŸĹļȀԗŜԊԈԋśÎŮĸÕμԕļԈŦĽÔşԜÚÉÐŮžŁȇúļծμňԭļîտĸԃԨԘŐŏարŏԜԜĺԸԙÚÉÐśŃŒÛůԘáÚÛԠμԉԘĸĸԜԄĹÚէԵȡÛր ůŸĹԕļĺԈծկŹԎŏՇŷրՇĻŰŭżŧŭĹՋկμԈĻŰբզԱԜĸĸՋŐԖրԈňŎþśկĹÚԗŀμĹÔՋԖŐμĸĺԖľŤśĺŏԈÚŐŭրŏԘԈÚůŸōȗԈμĽĸĻĹĸÔՇŷÚŐŭőμśĸȂԉԘĽÜԭÚŐŭŕրĻԭĹŐμĸîňĺŏSiyiտĸȟŦĽȚŐμԈȃļՀſŜŎúԭμśĸԈԃծňĺŏԈՇŷÚŐŭրԈĻĸյņԖëÚԗŀμůŸĹԘìĸĸԏծկμźկԊԈÚĸԖŐņŜԋŏȇμտԠԈŜĸśÚԜŏȃßȁտԘԈņÚԖëրĸԭμĻտÉŜûŤԖĸŐĸԝſÚüվņȂĻμԏŇտĸԃԨրÎŜμĸԵÚŤԖԝſ (Astrophysical Journal, Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomy & Astrophysics) ȃŏĻծĽՀÚŐŭĻԜśկըԘäμԈĻÚԖëĹԈĺĸĸŅľր ŷĽĸμůŸĸĸĸՋμԯĸԭÚԎůȃļŤԬȪկրտծžԈÚìĸïԖëμĸŅԔňĺìuÉ(21É)μԈȂԗտԋſŦԞ26ĸŭԯȃÔŮĺզԀĹŊրԯĸĸÉԜμůŸȃļžծÜŜȘկμŹŜĸĸŤņûŇžկûÚĿԔԄէրԜĺÉԜμůŸԏÚŻծÚȕźȃŷûŤĺԖëÚȕźĺրśĸՋկĸԘԈÚԯկμԜŐÚŇĸÉԜμůŸȝŸĻûŜĿԔԈÚկԨμÄŐĸŏĸŏէȇûԈŐրĻկĻÚĸĸԜŏԜĸĸśŭÔμśĸՋկŤŷĺμԉĻōŸÚԗŀŤկĺĸŹμĸȗÔԝԏȫՋԖրĻĸԭԝԿŊԈŊŊԏȫՇŷÚՋկ԰Źր ůŸûŸԌŜŘվÚĸԝŮžŏľĸվŮž (Hofstadters Law)μŤԦÚԄԀŰԘŁĻĽĺԃԉՊÚԗȗԀԘԯĽȢԜÚզȕμōĽĽŜծňÚԗŀŷûՀՙňĺľĸվŮžրĸԭμĻԀԘԕůԈŇĺզԗŁŇŤμĸզĸԗԊĽՄրԯԬņէԵÔկμԈĻԀԘžԗżŧŇŤμžžԈĻŷûņŮĺμňĺտԲԜżŧրԏԗծňμĽԉԜԗȗŎԅԅûŌĽÚԃԨμԉԜŏՃŁŇťÚŷĽր ůŸŷĽžÔŊμůՇŷÚզԱžĸԠրûŸōŤ2ÂՃԔňĻÚȂĻμկԈêÄȆԝԄկňԈĻŏĻŁտĸĽĻĻԝĸļůԈԜտňÚզԱμĻûŸծԈԨԄļԁμԏȆԈԜéŏĻŎԵվյյրԯԬԈզկŁśśĻĹȃļŐԄր ŜԜŐĸԬշůŸȀկÚԗŀμůŸůԈկμԈÎŜž×ՋμĽԜéÚԗŀկŤԃԃԈμԈȜզտĺԝԸտȚŅրůŸμԂĸÛļŜŭÔÚſȇրŸԜԂÎŜŜÚȂĸĸÕμԲԜ×ՋμԲԜȔկμŏԜŮȝŒſĹրԂźկŷûŒԘԘŜĸյĺŐμ ծŁՉ 2016.2.15

I personally like the Chinese version much better. I guess I still need to work on my English...


My Advisor Michael Jura


My Ph.D. advisor Michael Jura passed away on January 30th, 2016. He was an amazing advisor and a great friend to me. He was one of the most important people in my life. Words cannot express my feelings.


I first met Mike in the summer of 2009. I was a junior undergraduate in the department of astronomy in Nanjing University. I was very lucky to be selected for a 10-week research program (CSST: Cross-disciplinary Scholars in Science and Technology) at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). Mike was my advisor for the summer program and I had a great time working with him. It was my very first real research experience and I loved observational astronomy. Afterwards, Mike was very kind to write a lot of letters of recommendations for me for graduate school and I got into a few. I decided to go to UCLA for graduate school to work with him I think that is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Everything went quite smoothly afterwards, thanks to Mike. I got my Masters degree and Ph.D. in 4 years and now I am a postdoc fellow at the European Southern Observatory.


Mike had a very sharp mind and he was always ready to discover new things. I enjoyed our lively and interesting discussions a lot. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to work with him so closely. Not only did he teach me how to identify and solve a scientific question, he also taught me to have a clear picture of myself.


The most important lesson I learned from Mike is to be honest about my mistakes. He kept reminding me The only people who make no mistakes are dead people. One time, we were making observing plans for the Hubble Space Telescope. We lost some precious observing time because I overlooked one issue. I was very upset but Mike was very calm about this. He said things like this happen and that is how you make progress.


Mike always encouraged me to work on projects that interested me the most rather than forcing me into a topic. I like doing observation and often think about projects with different telescopes. Mike would bring me down to Earth and teach me to do some good order-of-magnitude calculations. He would insist on having a clear physical picture and a goal before writing an observing proposal.


Mike also taught me to be proud of who I am. Ever since we started learning English in elementary school, we were asked to pick an English name. When I first went to US for graduate school, I also used my English name so foreigners can pronounce it. One time, Mike asked me, Why dont you use your real name? After that, I would always take time to teach people to pronounce Siyi because I want them to call my real name. When we started to write papers together, Mike had the idea that my Chinese name should be included so that all my friends in China would know that I wrote the paper. He took the effort to send these suggestions to the editors of different journals. Right now, all the mainstream astronomical journals (e.g. Astrophysical Journal, Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notice of Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomy & Astrophysics) allow the authors to display their names in their native language in the parentheses. I think our paper set a good example.


Mike was always extremely patient and careful with all the projects we worked on. For my very first paper, we kept revising the manuscript and the final version ended up being version u (21st version). I was worried what would happen if we used up all 26 letters. For each version, Mike would give very detailed comments within 1-2 days. Sometimes, his comments were much longer than the manuscript itself. Because English is not my native language, Mike would also spend a significant amount of time improving the grammar and then explain them to me one by one. Mike often talked about a story to motivate me to work on my English. He said that he had a friend who also had a Chinese student. The student had to spend one extra year in graduate school just to improve his English.


Mike often talked about Hofstadters Law, which says It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadters Law. We always started to plan things as early as possible. For example, very often we were the first to finish writing an observing proposal (our proposal ID often ended up as 001), sometimes even before others have started working on it.


Mike worked very hard. I often received emails from him at 2am about some ideas that he just had in the dream. However, he was very respectful about my own private time. He often encouraged me to go to the beach and enjoy the weekend.


During our last conversation, Mike said, I am having a lot of pains right now. Please keep me in your thoughts. I will need those to get through the day. Mike, you will always be in my thoughts. I bet the world you are living in right now has no pains or mistakes, only peace and happiness? Perhaps you are up there with all the white dwarf stars?


Siyi Xu 2016.02.15



ԈÚůŸMichael Jura


ůŸԘ2016Ź1Ԝ30ԗĸōյÚրտŎÚōĸԜμԯԯԃňԭμŰſ×ԗԯրťŃÞȗśňĺňŐňտĸřՀÚԗňμĸňȃԝÚŤêÄμԈտԲԜԝžŏկŸņէμĻōŷû԰տŜæżĺր


ԜԗծկůŸԘŜ2009ŹÚŤŤμȂԗԈտŜōĺŤŭŤԖèկԜçրԈžŹտԜԜļŎŊŷŤŭԴԝßňԠ(UCLA)ŏŊōĸԘԜÚԚԜĺԍCSST (Cross-disciplinary Scholars in Science and Technology)μŽԗĻŰԘԈÚůŸրōĸԘԜÚԗȗžßμōծԈìĸԬÜԭĽļňĺŁçàÚĹնμĹծԈĽȪňĽÔԜտȕŁŤԖէԵԘĸĻտĹԜԄԀÚĺԃրŐԝμůŸûԈņĺԎՍĿμԈĹžȡňŜԋň垍þśàéÔșÚŽŏȀßĹրĹŐԈտԘȀԋĺŎUCLAûûշĻԔկ៌ōŸμԈէžտԘԈտվŭŁÚԜԭáÚņŮĹĸրŭԜĸμůŸůԈզԱžĸԠμÔԴĸμůŸůԈĹžŅſրĹŐÚĸňȃžȡňμ4ŹÚԗȗԈŰԋňĺ៌ōŸŭĽμÎŜԈŜԬԴōԖŤԖŏ(ESO)ûûŁōŸŐàéŷĽμտĺȃæĸżůŸůԈÚԕůր


ůŸԜȝŸԕȔÚԴԟŊμԀՃÜňžŤňĺԲԜŏÎÚȗȢրĻžȸնŹȻμԯԬŒĻծԀԜȝŸԄŤÚԔՎրÎŜśԃյԝμůŸĸĻԕļĺԈŦĽŎŏÎŒէņĸĸçŭȗȢμԛԕļĺԈŦĽŎծկՇŷր


ԈĻůŸȂȇŭĹňÚԜȇզÚĸկŰԘÛȝՇŷÚȔկրĻԀԘկμտĸĸÕĸŔĸĸÊȔÚĺŰԘԭĺրԜĸԬμԈĻŜծծœŋéȗԜտȕÚէԵԖԡμÔĺԈÚĸĸÖſμծԈĻԍŤĺžŤէԵԗȗրĸԭμԈȝŸԇԁμĸԙĸȃԲԜÝťրìĺŤէňůŸμĻōԷÄՇՋμտŮԅԈկԲĺÚμŏզĽŭļĺμĸԬĸņÊŐԠÚȔկŰŏĻĺμĺŰԘտԠտԭÚր


ůŸĻԝĸļőĻԈŎŁĻĽկȢμԀļȼŊԈŎàéՇŷԄŅնÚȗȢ րԈžŖԬŁŤԖէԵμԀԃÝÔĸÕĸŐçԜտȕŁԜնÚէԵրůŸĹļȀԗŜԊԈԋśÎŮĸÕμԕļԈŦĽÔşԜÚÉÐŮžŁȇúļծμňԭļîտĸԃԨԘŐŏարŏԜԜĺԸԙÚÉÐśŃŒÛůԘáÚÛԠμԉԘĸĸԜԄĹÚէԵȡÛր


ůŸĹԕļĺԈծկŹԎŏՇŷրՇĻŰŭżŧŭĹՋկμԈĻŰբզԱԜĸĸՋŐԖրԈňŎþśկĹÚԗŀμĹÔՋԖŐμĸĺԖľŤśĺŏԈÚŐŭրŏԘԈÚůŸōȗԈμĽĸĻĹĸÔՇŷÚŐŭőμśĸȂԉԘĽÜԭÚŐŭŕրĻԭĹŐμĸîňĺŏSiyiտĸȟŦĽȚŐμԈȃļՀſŜŎúԭμśĸԈԃծňĺŏԈՇŷÚŐŭրԈĻĸյņԖëÚԗŀμůŸĹԘìĸĸԏծկμźկԊԈÚĸԖŐņŜԋŏȇμտԠԈŜĸśÚԜŏȃßȁտԘԈņÚԖëրĸԭμĻտÉŜûŤԖĸŐĸԝſÚüվņȂĻμԏŇտĸԃԨրÎŜμĸԵÚŤԖԝſ (Astrophysical Journal, Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomy & Astrophysics) ȃŏĻծĽՀÚŐŭĻԜśկըԘäμԈĻÚԖëĹԈĺĸĸŅľր


ŷĽĸμůŸĸĸĸՋμԯĸԭÚԎůȃļŤԬȪկրտծžԈÚìĸïԖëμĸŅԔňĺìuÉ(21É)μԈȂԗտԋſŦԞ26ĸŭԯȃÔŮĺզԀĹŊրԯĸĸÉԜμůŸȃļžծÜŜȘկμŹŜĸĸŤņûŇžկûÚĿԔԄէրԜĺÉԜμůŸԏÚŻծÚȕźȃŷûŤĺԖëÚȕźĺրśĸՋկĸԘԈÚԯկμԜŐÚŇĸÉԜμůŸȝŸĻûŜĿԔԈÚկԨμÄŐĸŏĸŏէȇûԈŐրĻկĻÚĸĸԜŏԜĸĸśŭÔμśĸՋկŤŷĺμԉĻōŸÚԗŀŤկĺĸŹμĸȗÔԝԏȫՋԖրĻĸԭԝԿŊԈŊŊԏȫՇŷÚՋկ԰Źր


ůŸûŸԌŜŘվÚĸԝŮžŏľĸվŮž (Hofstadters Law)μŤԦÚԄԀŰԘŁĻĽĺԃԉՊÚԗȗԀԘԯĽȢԜÚզȕμōĽĽŜծňÚԗŀŷûՀՙňĺľĸվŮžրĸԭμĻԀԘԕůԈŇĺզԗŁŇŤμĸզĸԗԊĽՄրԯԬņէԵÔկμԈĻԀԘžԗżŧŇŤμžžԈĻŷûņŮĺμňĺտԲԜżŧրԏԗծňμĽԉԜԗȗŎԅԅûŌĽÚԃԨμԉԜŏՃŁŇťÚŷĽր


ůŸŷĽžÔŊμůՇŷÚզԱžĸԠրûŸōŤ2ÂՃԔňĻÚȂĻμկԈêÄȆԝԄկňԈĻŏĻŁտĸĽĻĻԝĸļůԈԜտňÚզԱμĻûŸծԈԨԄļԁμԏȆԈԜéŏĻŎԵվյյրԯԬԈզկŁśśĻĹȃļŐԄր


ŜԜŐĸԬշůŸȀկÚԗŀμůŸůԈկμԈÎŜž×ՋμĽԜéÚԗŀկŤԃԃԈμԈȜզտĺԝԸտȚŅրůŸμԂĸÛļŜŭÔÚſȇրŸԜԂÎŜŜÚȂĸĸÕμԲԜ×ՋμԲԜȔկμŏԜŮȝŒſĹրԂźկŷûŒԘԘŜĸյĺŐμ


ծŁՉ 2016.2.15

Michael Jura and me observing with Keck at the UCLA remote control room, 2012 Aug 02