Amber Straughn

Last updated
Amber Nicole Straughn
Amber Straughn, NASA Astrophysicist.jpg
Astrophysicist Amber Straughn of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the James Webb Space Telescope
Bornc. 1979 (age 44–45)
Alma mater University of Arkansas, Arizona State University
Known for Astronomy
Scientific career
Fields Astronomy
InstitutionsAstrophysicist NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Doctoral advisor Rogier Windhorst
Website www.amberstraughn.com

Amber Nicole Straughn (born c. 1979) is an American astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where she serves as the deputy project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, responsible for science communications. [1] Her research focuses on interacting and star-forming galaxies in the context of galaxy assembly. She is also the associate director of the Astrophysics Science Division.

Contents

Early life and education

Straughn was raised on a cattle and pig farm in Bee Branch, Arkansas, [2] [3] and also grew watermelons. [4] The dark skies inspired her early interest in astronomy, stargazing on a blanket by her farmhouse. [5] When the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 while she was in elementary school, she saw videos of the event and said "I want to be part of that, part of that science story." A counselor in her high school helped her to get summer internships to help pave the way to a career in the sciences. After graduating from South Side High School in 1998, [6] she was the first person in her family to go to college. Straughn attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, which provided her with a merit scholarship. There, she worked with a student team to write a successful proposal for research on NASA's microgravity KC-135 plane known as the "vomit comet" in 2001. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 2002, Straughn attended Arizona State University where she completed the Master of Science degree. In 2005 she was awarded the 3-year NASA Harriett Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship for underrepresented groups in STEM. [7] Straughn earned a PhD in physics in 2008. Her Ph.D. thesis, Tracing galaxy assembly: A study of merging and emission-line galaxies, is on the topic of galaxy evolution using Hubble Space Telescope data. [8]

Scientific career

Straughn is a member of the James Webb Space Telescope project science team at Goddard, where she started as a postdoc in 2008. She became the deputy project scientist for JWST Science Communications in 2011. [9] As an early user of the newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope, Straughn demonstrated its capability to measure the distance to and properties of very faint galaxies in the early universe. [10] She is a co-investigator of the CANDELS team, conducting the largest galaxy survey project on Hubble.

Amber Straughn with Milky J "Hubble Gotchu" of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon visiting Goddard Milky J "Hubble Gotchu" of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon visits Goddard (4857012099).jpg
Amber Straughn with Milky J “Hubble Gotchu" of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon visiting Goddard

Straughn is known as a passionate science communicator and has spoken at schools, astronomy clubs, museums, and research societies locally in the DC area and nationwide. The University of Arkansas awarded her an Honors Alumna status in 2017 [11] for her scientific and outreach work. She also interacts frequently with the media, having done numerous live television interviews, media features for NASA, [12] and has appeared on TEDx, [13] PBS NOVA, [14] [15] National Geographic, DiscoveryGo, [16] Netflix, [17] History Channel, Science Channel and on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Hubble Gotcha" segment. [18]

Straughn became a pilot in 2013, flying a Cessna 182. [19] She is an active yoga practitioner and teaches weekly yoga classes. [1]

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space telescope</span> Instrument in space to study astronomical objects

A space telescope is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched in 1968, and the Soviet Orion 1 ultraviolet telescope aboard space station Salyut 1 in 1971. Space telescopes avoid several problems caused by the atmosphere, including the absorption or scattering of certain wavelengths of light, obstruction by clouds, and distortions due to atmospheric refraction such as twinkling. Space telescopes can also observe dim objects during the daytime, and they avoid light pollution which ground-based observatories encounter. They are divided into two types: Satellites which map the entire sky, and satellites which focus on selected astronomical objects or parts of the sky and beyond. Space telescopes are distinct from Earth imaging satellites, which point toward Earth for satellite imaging, applied for weather analysis, espionage, and other types of information gathering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubble Space Telescope</span> NASA/ESA space telescope launched in 1990

The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned as a vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy. The Hubble telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's Great Observatories. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) controls the spacecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Telescope Science Institute</span> Science operations center operated by NASA

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. STScI was established in 1981 as a community-based science center that is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). STScI's offices are located on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and in the Rotunda building in Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First light (astronomy)</span> Term in astronomy for the first time a telescope is used to look at the Universe

In astronomy, first light is the first use of a telescope to take an astronomical image after it has been constructed. This is often not the first viewing using the telescope; optical tests will probably have been performed to adjust the components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Webb Space Telescope</span> NASA/ESA/CSA space telescope launched in 2021

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This enables investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3132</span> Planetary nebula in the constellation Vela

NGC 3132 is a bright and extensively studied planetary nebula in the constellation Vela. Its distance from Earth is estimated at 613 pc or 2,000 light-years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Roman</span> American astronomer (1925–2018)

Nancy Grace Roman was an American astronomer who made important contributions to stellar classification and motions. The first female executive at NASA, Roman served as NASA's first Chief of Astronomy throughout the 1960s and 1970s, establishing her as one of the "visionary founders of the US civilian space program".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Wiseman</span> American astronomer

Jennifer J. Wiseman is an American astronomer and Senior Project Scientist on the Hubble Space Telescope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Hammel</span> Planetary astronomer

Heidi B. Hammel is a planetary astronomer who has extensively studied Neptune and Uranus. She was part of the team imaging Neptune from Voyager 2 in 1989. She led the team using the Hubble Space Telescope to view Shoemaker-Levy 9's impact with Jupiter in 1994. She has used the Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Telescope to study Uranus and Neptune, discovering new information about dark spots, planetary storms and Uranus' rings. In 2002, she was selected as an interdisciplinary scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey</span> Astronomical survey that combines observations from 3 great NASA observatories

The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, or GOODS, is an astronomical survey combining deep observations from three of NASA's Great Observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, along with data from other space-based telescopes, such as XMM Newton, and some of the world's most powerful ground-based telescopes.

George Henry Rieke, a noted American infrared astronomer, is former Deputy Director of the Steward Observatory and Regents Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He led the experiment design and development team for the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) instrument on NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, and currently chairs the science team of the Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MACS0647-JD</span> One of the farthest known galaxies from the Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis

MACS0647-JD is a galaxy with a redshift of about z = 10.7, equivalent to a light travel distance of 13.26 billion light-years. If the distance estimate is correct, it formed about 427 million years after the Big Bang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Mountain</span> President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy

Charles Mattias ("Matt") Mountain is currently the President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) which designs, builds, and operates telescopes and observatories for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). AURA's NASA center is the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), responsible for the science mission for the Hubble Space Telescope, the science and operations for the James Webb Space Telescope, and the MAST data archive. AURA's NSF centers are Gemini Observatory, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), and the National Solar Observatory (NSO). Dr. Mountain and AURA are also responsible for the NSF construction projects: the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on Haleakalā, Hawaii and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcia J. Rieke</span> American astronomer

Marcia Jean Rieke is an American astronomer. She is a Regents' Professor of Astronomy and associate department head at the University of Arizona. Rieke is the Principal Investigator on the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Marcia Rieke is considered by many to be one of the "founding mothers" of infrared astronomy, along with Judith Pipher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph E. Pesce</span> Italian-American astrophysicist

Joseph E. Pesce is an Italian-American astrophysicist and Program Officer at the National Science Foundation in the US. He is a part-time professor at George Mason University and a visiting professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Sangeeta Malhotra is an astrophysicist who studies galaxies, their contents, and their effects on the universe around them. The objects she studies range from our own Milky Way galaxy to some of the earliest and most distant known galaxies in the epoch of cosmic dawn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Rigby (astrophysicist)</span> American astrophysicist

Jane Rebecca Rigby is an American astrophysicist who works at the Goddard Space Flight Center and is Senior Project Scientist of the James Webb Space Telescope. She was selected one of Nature's 10 Ones to Watch in 2021 and Shape 2022. In 2024 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.

<i>Webbs First Deep Field</i> First operational image from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope

Webb's First Deep Field is the first operational image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The deep-field photograph, which covers a tiny area of sky visible from the Southern Hemisphere, is centered on SMACS 0723, a galaxy cluster in the constellation of Volans. Thousands of galaxies are visible in the image, some as old as 13 billion years. It is the highest-resolution image of the early universe ever taken. Captured by the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the image was revealed to the public by NASA on 11 July 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMACS 0723</span> Galaxy cluster in the constellation Volans

SMACS J0723.3–7327, commonly referred to as SMACS 0723, is a galaxy cluster about 4 billion light years from Earth, within the southern constellation of Volans. It is a patch of sky visible from the Southern Hemisphere on Earth and often observed by the Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes in search of the deep past. It was the target of the first full-color image to be unveiled by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), imaged using NIRCam, with spectra included, showing objects lensed by the cluster with redshifts implying they are 13.1 billion years old. The cluster has been previously observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as part of the Southern MAssive Cluster Survey (SMACS), as well as Planck and Chandra.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Amber Straughn Biography, Webb Telescope/NASA" . Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  2. ↑ "Amber Straughn – Star light, star bright". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. 2017-04-23.
  3. ↑ Michael Storey (2015-04-21). "Nova show marks Hubble telescope anniversary". Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
  4. ↑ Natasha Stamler (2017-08-09). "Interview with Dr. Amber Straughn". TechMaiden. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  5. ↑ Straughn, Amber (2019-09-20). "A NASA Scientist Looks Back on Looking up". Arkansas Life. Archived from the original on 2020-06-20. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  6. ↑ Benjamin Hardy (2016-10-21). "New frontiers in space: NASA scientist talks exoplanets, Hubble's successor and more". Arkansas Times.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Amber Straughn, Astrophysicist". Discovery Go.
  8. ↑ Amber N. Straughn (December 2008). "Tracing galaxy assembly: A study of merging and emission-line galaxies". Bibcode:2008PhDT........12S.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ↑ "Brief bio, Dr. Amber N. Straughn" . Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  10. ↑ Amber N. Straughn (2010-12-10). "Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 Early Release Science: Emission-line Galaxies from Infrared Grism Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 141: 14. arXiv: 1005.3071 . doi:10.1088/0004-6256/141/1/14. hdl: 1885/65533 . S2CID   119300835.
  11. ↑ "NASA Astrophysicist Amber Straughn to Lecture on Search for Origins of Life". 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  12. ↑ "Amber's Story". YouTube . 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  13. ↑ "Infant Galaxies to Alien Atmospheres: NASA's Next Huge Telescope – Amber Straughn – TEDxACU". YouTube . 2017-05-26. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  14. ↑ "Invisible Universe Revealed". PBS . 2015-04-22.
  15. ↑ "New Eye on the Universe". PBS . 2024-02-18.
  16. ↑ "Dr. Amber Straughn, Astrophysicist" . Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  17. ↑ "Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine" . Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  18. ↑ "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - JWST Gotchu". YouTube . 2010. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  19. ↑ "On the Move: Dr. Amber Straughn – Astrophysicist and Galactic Explorer". Ocean Blue World. Retrieved 2020-06-19.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. 1 2 David Hitt (2007-04-18). "Bringing Extragalactic Data Down to Earth" . Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  21. ↑ "Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Awards" . Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  22. ↑ "2016 NASA Agency Honor Awards" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-06-30.[ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.