James E. Gunn

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For the science fiction writer, see James Gunn (author).

James Edward Gunn (born 1938) is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University.

Gunn's early theoretical work helped establish the current understanding of how galaxies form and properties of the space between galaxies. He also suggested important observational tests to confirm the presence of dark matter in galaxies, and predicted the existence of a Gunn-Peterson trough in the spectra of distant quasars.

Gunn is one of those rare astronomers who can build research-grade astronomical detectors and work in theoretical astrophysics with equal facility.

Much of Gunn's later work has involved leadership in major observational projects. He developed plans for one of the first uses of digital camera technology for space observation, a project that led to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the most extensive three-dimensional mapping of the universe ever undertaken. He also a played a major role with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Gunn received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1966 and joined the faculty of Princeton University two years later. Subsequently, he has worked at Berkeley, Caltech, and back at Princeton again. He is married to astronomer Gillian Knapp and they have two children, Humberto and Marleny.