Catherine J. Cesarsky | |
---|---|
Born | Ambazac, France | 24 February 1943
Nationality | French |
Alma mater | University of Buenos Aires Harvard University [1] |
Known for | Designing the ISOCAM camera on board the Infrared Space Observatory |
Awards | COSPAR Space Science Award (1998) Prix Jules Janssen (2009) Tate medal (2020) Fritz Zwicky Prize (2024) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomer |
Institutions | SKAO Council; European Southern Observatory Germany |
Thesis | Interactions of Cosmic Rays with Hydromagnetic Waves in the Galaxy (1971) |
Catherine Jeanne Cesarsky (born Catherine Jeanne Gattegno on 24 February 1943) is an Argentine and French astronomer, known for her research activities in astrophysics and for her leadership in astronomy and atomic energy. She is the current chairperson of the Square Kilometre Array's governing body, SKAO Council. [2] She was the first female president of the International Astronomical Union (2006-2009) [3] [4] and the first female director general of the European Southern Observatory (1999-2007). [5] [6]
Born in France, Catherine Cesarsky was largely raised in Argentina and she received a degree in physical sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. She graduated with a PhD in astronomy in 1971 from Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass., USA). Her thesis focused on the propagation of cosmic rays in the galaxy and was advised by physicist Russell Kulsrud. [7]
After obtaining her PhD, Dr. Cesarsky was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship at the California Institute of Technology for three years, where she worked with Peter Goldreich. [7]
In 1974, she moved to France, becoming a staff member of the Service d'Astrophysique, [8] Direction des Sciences de la Matière, [9] Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, [10] and she established her further career in France. From 1985 to 1993, she was the head of the Service d'Astrophysique. Later, as Director of Direction des Sciences de la Matière from 1994 to 1999, she led about 3000 scientists, engineers and technicians active within a broad spectrum of basic research programmes in physics, chemistry, astrophysics and earth sciences. From 1999 to 2007, she was the Director General of the European Southern Observatory; she was thus responsible for the end of construction of the Very Large Telescope (VLT)[ clarification needed ] and its instruments and for the operations, for the conclusion of the agreements and the first part of the construction of Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA),[ clarification needed ] and she launched the studies for the European Extremely Large Telescope.
She was the High Commissioner for Atomic Energy in France from 2009 to 2012 and remains a scientific advisor to the French government for science and energy issues. [5] She chairs the Science Program Committee of the French space agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, [5] and the Consultative Committee for the Fusion Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (CCE-FU). [11]
From August 2006 to August 2009, she was President of the International Astronomical Union, the first woman to hold the position. [3] [4] She became chairman of the board of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation in 2017 and took on the post of chairperson of its successor governing body, SKAO Council, in 2021. [5]
Dr. Cesarsky is known for her research activities in several central areas of modern astrophysics. The first part of her career was devoted to the high-energy domain. This has involved studies of the propagation and composition of galactic cosmic rays, of matter and fields in the diffuse interstellar medium, as well as the acceleration of particles in astrophysical shocks, e.g. in connection with supernovae.
She then turned to infrared astronomy. She was the principal investigator of the camera on board the Infrared Space Observatory of the European Space Agency, which flew between 1995 and 1998. As such, she has led the central programme, which studied the infrared emission from a variety of galactic and extragalactic sources and which has yielded new and exciting results on star formation and galactic evolution. These studies were consolidated and refined via further observations with the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT), and the Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory.
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(January 2010) |
Cesarsky is a Member of the Academia Europaea [5] , the International Academy of Astronautics [12] , and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 2010, she received an honorary degree from the University of Geneva. Other awards and honours include:
Riccardo Giacconi was an Italian-American Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid down the foundations of X-ray astronomy. He was a professor at the Johns Hopkins University.
The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a digitized version of several photographic astronomical surveys of the night sky, produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute between 1983 and 2006.
The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie is a research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG). It is located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near the top of the Königstuhl, adjacent to the historic Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl astronomical observatory. The institute primarily conducts basic research in the natural sciences in the field of astronomy.
The Bordeaux Observatory is an astronomical observatory affiliated with the University of Bordeaux. Built in Floirac, France in 1893 its lenses were focused between +11 and +17 degrees declination. Until 1970 it had taken over 4,000 photographic plates. Bordeaux Observatory is home to a large collection of instruments and archives from well over a century of astronomical activities. Until the 2016 it was actively used until the institution moved to a new location at the University. In the French language the name is Observatoire de Bordeaux.
Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. It is operated by an editorial team under the supervision of a board of directors representing 27 sponsoring countries plus a representative of the European Southern Observatory. The journal is published by EDP Sciences and the current editors-in-chief are Thierry Forveille and João Alves.
Jean-Claude Pecker was a French astronomer, astrophysicist and author, member of the French Academy of Sciences and director of the Nice Observatory. He served as the secretary-general of the International Astronomical Union from 1964 to 1967. Pecker was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French amateur astronomical society, from 1973–1976. He was awarded the Prix Jules Janssen by the French Astronomical Society in 1967. A minor planet is named after him. Pecker was a vocal opponent of astrology and pseudo-science and was the president of the Association française pour l'information scientifique (AFIS), a skeptical organisation which promotes scientific enquiry in the face of quackery and obscurantism.
Lodewijk Woltjer was an astronomer, and the son of astronomer Jan Woltjer. He studied at the University of Leiden under Jan Oort earning a PhD in astronomy in 1957 with a thesis on the Crab Nebula. This was followed by post-doctoral research appointments to various American universities and the subsequent appointment of professor of theoretical astrophysics and plasma physics in the University of Leiden. From 1964 to 1974 he was Rutherford Professor of Astronomy and Chair of the Astronomy Department at Columbia University in New York. From 1975 to 1987 he was Director General of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), where he initiated the construction of the Very Large Telescope. In 1994–1997 he was President of the International Astronomical Union. Woltjer was honored in 1987 with the Karl Schwarzschild Medal.
Françoise Combes is a French astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and a professor at the Collège de France where she has been the chair of Galaxies and cosmology since 2014.
The Ordre national du Mérite is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ministerial orders previously awarded by the ministries; and to create an award that can be awarded at a lower level than the Legion of Honour, which is generally reserved for French citizens. It comprises about 185,000 members; 306,000 members have been admitted or promoted in 50 years.
Isabelle Ealet is a French businesswoman and investment manager who served as the global head of Goldman Sachs' securities division from 2007 to 2018. She served as an advisor on commerce to the French embassy in London.
Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami was an Italian physicist. From March 2007 until August 2008, he was Chairman of the Italian Space Agency. Between 2010 and 2014, he was the first Italian to chair the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), and from 2011 until 2015, he was President of INAF. He was also the chairman of the SKA project. He was married to fellow Italian astrophysicist Patrizia A. Caraveo.
PicSat is a French observatory nanosatellite, designed to measure the transit of Beta Pictoris b, an exoplanet which orbits the star Beta Pictoris.
Raymond Augustin Jean-Baptiste Mailhat was a French manufacturer of telescopes and precision optical instruments.
Anne-Marie Lagrange, born March 12, 1962 in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, is a French astrophysicist. Lagrange's work focuses on the research and study of extrasolar planetary systems. Lagrange is the holder of numerous scientific awards and honorary decorations, including Knight of the Legion of Honour and is a member of the French Academy of Sciences since 2013.
Nicole Capitaine is an astronomer at the Paris Observatory who is known as an expert on astrometry and related standards.
Uta Fritze-von Alvensleben is a German astrophysicist awarded the German Physical Society's Hertha-Sponer prize in 2003 for her work on the evolution of galaxies.
Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille,, is a French cosmologist. During her career as a researcher in particle physics, she has taken part in several large-scale experiments. Her work has been recognized several times including the Irène Joliot-Curie Prize, the appointment as Knight of the Legion of Honor and her election to the French Academy of Sciences.
Sylvie Vauclair is a French astrophysicist, and professor emeritus, where she taught for more than 30 years. She also taught for a decade at the Paris Diderot University. She has served as president of the Société Française d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique.
Jean Delhaye (1921–2001) was a French astronomer and director of astronomical research at several institutes.
Fabienne Casoli is a French astronomer and academic administrator, the president of the Paris Observatory.
Media related to Catherine Cesarsky at Wikimedia Commons