Anna Frebel

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Anna Frebel
Anna Frebel MIT Physics Dept.jpg
Anna Frebel (2022)
Born1980 (age 4344)
Berlin, Germany
NationalityGerman
Alma mater Australian National University
Known forDiscovering the oldest stars in the universe
Awards Ludwig Biermann Award
Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy
Scientific career
Fields Astronomy
Institutions MIT
Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
University of Texas
Thesis Abundance analysis of bright metal-poor stars from the Hamburg/ESO survey  (2006)
Doctoral advisor John Edward Norris
Other academic advisors Martin Asplund
Michael Stanley Bessell

Anna Frebel (born 1980 in Berlin) is a German astronomer and author working on discovering the oldest stars in the universe.

Contents

Career

Anna Frebel grew up in Göttingen, Germany. [1] After finishing high school, she began studying physics in Freiburg im Breisgau but did not finish the physics program and did not obtain a physics degree there. Instead she enrolled in an astronomy program in Australia, where she obtained a PhD in Astronomy from the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra. Shortly thereafter, a W. J. McDonald Postdoctoral Fellowship brought her to the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, where she continued her studies. [2]

From 2009 to 2011, she was a Clay Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge (MA).

In 2012 she moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, achieving promotion to full professor in 2022. [3]

Discoveries

In 2005, Frebel discovered the star HE 1327-2326, which is the most iron-deficient star, stemming from a time very shortly after the Big Bang. In 2007 she also discovered the red giant star HE 1523-0901, which is about 13.2 billion years old.

Awards and honors

Publications (selection)

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References

  1. 1 2 "Kosmische Methusalems | Lise-Meitner-Lectures: Die Astrophysikerin Anna Frebel erzählt von den ältesten Sternen des Weltalls". www.dpg-physik.de (in German). German Physical Society. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  2. Schroeder, Bendta (4 June 2018). "Meet the School of Science's tenured professors for 2018". MIT Press. MIT News. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 Anna Frebel at MIT Physics
  4. "The Charlene Heisler Prize" . Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  5. "Physikerinnen als Role Models" (in Austrian German). Der Standard. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  6. "Fellows nominated in 2022". APS Fellows archive. American Physical Society. Retrieved 19 October 2022.