# John Bally
**John Bally** is an astrophysicist and Professor Emeritus of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the [University of Colorado Boulder](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-colorado-boulder), whose research concerns the formation of stars, star clusters, and planetary systems, and the outflows and feedback processes that regulate them.[1](https://experts.colorado.edu/individual?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexperts.colorado.edu%2Findividual%2Ffisid_105710) • [2](https://www.colorado.edu/aps/john-bally) His department describes his work as observations and theory of star and planet formation, jets, outflows, and Herbig-Haro objects, protoplanetary disks, and the origin, evolution, and destruction of molecular clouds.[2](https://www.colorado.edu/aps/john-bally)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Star formation, protostellar outflows, stellar feedback, the interstellar medium[2](https://www.colorado.edu/aps/john-bally) |
| Position | Professor Emeritus, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder[1](https://experts.colorado.edu/individual?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexperts.colorado.edu%2Findividual%2Ffisid_105710) |
| Training | B.S. Astronomy, UC Berkeley, 1972; M.S. Physics, UMass Amherst, 1977; Ph.D. Astrophysics, UMass Amherst, 1980[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) |
| Industry career | AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ, 1980–1991 (postdoctoral, then Member of Technical Staff)[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) |
| Colorado career | Associate Professor 1991; Professor 2000; directed the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy 1996–1999[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) |
| Signature work | "Protostellar Outflows", Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2016[4](https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023341) |
| Major surveys | PI of the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey; co-investigator on Herschel Hi-GAL[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) |
| Society membership | International Astronomical Union individual member since 1988[5](https://www.iau.org/CommissionH4/Profile?ID=26220) |
## Education and early career
Bally earned a B.S. in [Astronomy](https://www.edgepedia.org/astronomy) at the [University of California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california), Berkeley in 1972, an M.S. in Physics at the [University of Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-massachusetts), Amherst in 1977, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics there in 1980.[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) The Astronomy Genealogy Project of the American Astronomical Society gives the completion year as 1981 for the same degree and institution; the CV's 1980 is the date he records himself.[6](https://astrogen.aas.org/front/searchdetails.php?agnumber=13200) His thesis, *The interaction of HII regions with molecular clouds*, used millimeter-wavelength emission lines of CO, CS, HCN, and C2H to probe the velocity fields, temperatures, and densities of molecular clouds around nearby Sharpless HII regions.[7](https://doi.org/10.7275/11249)
He then spent eleven years at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, as a postdoctoral Member of Technical Staff from 1980 to 1982 and as Member of Technical Staff from 1982 to 1991.[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) During this period he published *The Bell Laboratories H I Survey* in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series in 1992, and authored the 1991 Nature paper asking whether the Galactic Centre gamma-ray source 1E1740.7–2942 was accreting from a molecular cloud.[1](https://experts.colorado.edu/individual?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexperts.colorado.edu%2Findividual%2Ffisid_105710)
## Career at Colorado
Bally moved to the University of Colorado Boulder as Associate Professor in 1991 and became Professor in 2000; he directed the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) from 1996 to 1999.[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) He is now listed as Professor Emeritus and as a Fellow of CASA.[1](https://experts.colorado.edu/individual?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexperts.colorado.edu%2Findividual%2Ffisid_105710) • [8](https://www.colorado.edu/casa/john-bally) He joined the International Astronomical Union as an individual member of the United States national adherence in 1988.[5](https://www.iau.org/CommissionH4/Profile?ID=26220)
## Representative work
According to his 2016 review *Protostellar Outflows*, in the Annual Review of Astronomy and [Astrophysics](https://www.edgepedia.org/astrophysics) (pp. 491–528), outflow power increases with source luminosity but decreases with evolutionary stage, and the youngest outflows are small and best traced by molecules such as CO, SiO, H2O, and H2.[4](https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023341) The review concludes that outflows inject momentum and energy into their surroundings and provide an important mechanism in the self-regulation of star formation.[4](https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023341) This connects directly to his department's stated interest in how massive stars and clusters affect lower-mass star birth and planet formation.[2](https://www.colorado.edu/aps/john-bally)
## Research contributions and surveys
CASA describes his method as multi-wavelength observation of forming stars, protostellar outflows and jets, ionized nebulae, super-bubbles, and the interstellar medium, aimed at how star formation is self-regulated by feedback mechanisms.[8](https://www.colorado.edu/casa/john-bally) His facilities have included HST, Spitzer, Herschel, ALMA, SOFIA, the VLA, Gemini, and the [Apache Point Observatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/apache-point-observatory).[8](https://www.colorado.edu/casa/john-bally)
He was Principal Investigator of the 1.1 mm Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey, which traced emission from dense cloud cores, and a co-investigator on the Herschel Hi-GAL survey, which obtained the first high-resolution survey of the entire [Galactic plane](https://www.edgepedia.org/galactic-plane) at five wavelengths from 70 to 500 µm.[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) He also served as a co-investigator on the Spitzer warm-mission program SPIRITS, which monitored about 200 nearby galaxies for infrared transients with luminosities between those of novae and supernovae, and as PI of a [Las Cumbres Observatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/las-cumbres-observatory) network program monitoring the same galaxies at visual wavelengths.[3](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf) He has also written a popular book on the subject, *The Birth of Stars and Planets*.[9](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/)
## Honors and recognition
He received the Boulder Faculty Assembly Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarly and Creative Work in 2008.[1](https://experts.colorado.edu/individual?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexperts.colorado.edu%2Findividual%2Ffisid_105710)
## References
1. [Bally, John | CU Experts](https://experts.colorado.edu/individual?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexperts.colorado.edu%2Findividual%2Ffisid_105710)
2. [John Bally | Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder](https://www.colorado.edu/aps/john-bally)
3. [John Bally CV (long form)](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/Bally_CV_long.pdf)
4. [Protostellar Outflows (Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2016)](https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023341)
5. [Dr. John Bally | IAU member profile](https://www.iau.org/CommissionH4/Profile?ID=26220)
6. [AstroGen – The Astronomy Genealogy Project: John Bally](https://astrogen.aas.org/front/searchdetails.php?agnumber=13200)
7. [The interaction of HII regions with molecular clouds (PhD thesis)](https://doi.org/10.7275/11249)
8. [John Bally | Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy](https://www.colorado.edu/casa/john-bally)
9. [John Bally home page](https://casa.colorado.edu/~bally/)
10. [NSF Public Access Repository – author search "Bally, John"](https://par.nsf.gov/search/author:%22Bally,%20John%22)
11. [John Bally – INSPIRE](https://inspirehep.net/authors/1027859)
12. [Jets, Outflows, and Explosions in Massive Star Formation (arXiv, 2024)](https://arxiv.org/html/2401.05623v1)
13. [Celebration of John Bally – Star Formation, Stellar Feedback, and the Ecology of Galaxies](https://ballyfest.astro.umd.edu/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physical and mathematical scientists › Physicists and astronomers › Researchers in astrophysics, cosmology, and gravitational-wave science › Star formation and the interstellar medium*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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