Daniel B. Caton - Biographical Sketch

Dan Caton (Caton rhymes with "Dayton"), grew up in Tampa, Florida and attended the University of South Florida, graduating with B.A.'s in astronomy and physics. He stayed on to get a Masters in astronomy, and married Susan Hatcher. They moved to Gainesville where he got his Ph.D. in astronomy.

After graduation he took a temporary position at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, for two years. When that position ended he left for a year at Salisbury State College (now Salisbury University),in Maryland. When a tenure-track position came open back at Appalachian, he and Susan returned to Boone, where he eventually became a tenured full professor of physics and astronomy, and Director of Observatories.

His area of expertise is in the study of eclipsing binary stars--pairs of stars that orbit each other. Such binary star systems include most of the stars in our galaxy--the single stars like our Sun are the exceptions. Other work includes observations of stars occulted by asteroids.

As the founding chapter leader of the North Carolina Section of DarkSky International, Caton works to reduce light pollution in the state. He also is a member of the American Astronomical Society's COMPASSE committee (the COMittee for the Protection of AStronomy and the Space Environment).

Caton also works to debunk pseudoscience and at the same time investigates claims of the paranormal in such phenomena as the Brown Mountain Lights, having appeared on specials on Discovery Kids, the Travel Channel, the National Geographic Channel. He also had a cameo part in the movie Alien Abduction and part of a documentary, I Saw the Light (directed by Garrett Martin, on Amazon Prime). He is part of a group of researchers on the lights.

Caton was a contributor of op-ed columns to the Charlotte Observer from 1996 to 2007.

Susan and Dan have twins, son Ashton and daughter Celeste, who graduated from Appalachian State.