Debra Elmegreen

Last updated
Debra Elmegreen
Debra Elmegreen (cropped square).png
Elmegreen in October 2018
Born (1952-11-23) November 23, 1952 (age 71)
South Bend, Indiana
NationalityAmerican
Education Princeton University (AB)
Harvard University (MA, PhD)
Spouse Bruce Elmegreen
Scientific career
Fields Astronomy
Institutions Kitt Peak Observatory
Arecibo Observatory
Hale Observatory
Vassar College (1985–present)
Thesis An Optical Analysis of Dust Complexes in Spiral Galaxies [1]  (1979)
Doctoral advisor William Liller

Debra Meloy Elmegreen (born November 23, 1952 [2] in South Bend, Indiana) is an American astronomer. She was the first woman to graduate from Princeton University with a degree in astrophysics, and she was the first female post-doctoral researcher at the Carnegie Observatories.

Contents

Since 1985, she has been a professor of astronomy at Vassar College, currently on the endowed Maria Mitchell Chair. She wrote an astronomy textbook published by Prentice Hall in 1997. She served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 2010-2012. On August 30, 2018 was named President-elect of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) at the group’s 30th triennial General Assembly in Vienna, Austria [3] and became IAU President in 2021. [4]

Early life and education

Elmegreen was born in South Bend, Indiana in 1952. She became interested in astronomy at a young age. [5] She received her bachelor's degree in astrophysics from the Princeton University in 1975, [6] where she was the first woman to graduate with an astrophysics major. [7] She earned both her Masters and Ph.D from Harvard University in astronomy. In 1976 she married Bruce Elmegreen, an astronomer. [5] [8]

Career

Elmegreen did post-doctoral research at the Hale Observatory (now Mount Wilson Observatory) beginning in 1979, where she was the first female post-doctoral researcher at any of the Carnegie Observatories. [7] Starting in 1985, she began teaching astronomy at Vassar College. In 1990, she became an associate professor and then department chair in 1993. [9] [5] [10] [8]

Elmegreen is particularly interested in star formation and star forming galaxies. [11] In 1997, Elmegreen published an astronomy textbook for undergraduates titled, Galaxies and Galactic Structure, through Prentice Hall. Elmegreen has also published over 200 academic papers.

She was president of the American Astronomical Society from 2010-2012, [11] [12] and was appointed as a board member of the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. [13]

In 2013, she and her husband authored a paper, "The Onset of Spiral Structure in the Universe", published in the Astrophysical Journal . [14]

She is currently the President of the International Astronomical Union, (2021-present, President-Elect 2018-21; VP 2015-18).

Recognition

She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019. [15] In 2018, Elmegreen won the George Van Biesbroeck Prize for her unselfish service to astronomy on regional, national, and international scales. [16]

She was elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020 [17]

She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 [18]

Works

Elmegreen has also published over 200 academic papers including:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubble sequence</span> Galaxy morphological classification scheme advocated by Edwin Hubble

The Hubble sequence is a morphological classification scheme for galaxies published by Edwin Hubble in 1926. It is often colloquially known as the Hubble tuning-fork diagram because the shape in which it is traditionally represented resembles a tuning fork. It was invented by John Henry Reynolds and Sir James Jeans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irregular galaxy</span> Class of galaxy

An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not have a distinct regular shape, unlike a spiral or an elliptical galaxy. Irregular galaxies do not fall into any of the regular classes of the Hubble sequence, and they are often chaotic in appearance, with neither a nuclear bulge nor any trace of spiral arm structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Astronomical Society</span> Society of professional astronomers based in Washington, DC

The American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of science, while the secondary purpose includes enhancing astronomy education and providing a political voice for its members through lobbying and grassroots activities. Its current mission is to enhance and share humanity's scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Louise Trimble</span> American astronomer (born 1943)

Virginia Louise Trimble is an American astronomer specializing in the structure and evolution of stars and galaxies, and the history of astronomy. She has published more than 600 works in Astrophysics, and dozens of other works in the history of other sciences. She is famous for an annual review of astronomy and astrophysics research that was published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and often gives summary reviews at astrophysical conferences. In 2018, she was elected a Patron of the American Astronomical Society, for her many years of intellectual, organizational, and financial contributions to the society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barred spiral galaxy</span> Spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies in the local universe, and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies and can affect spiral arms as well. The Milky Way Galaxy, where the Solar System is located, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2997</span> Galaxy in the constellation Antlia

NGC 2997 is a face-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 40 million light-years away in the faint southern constellation of Antlia. It was discovered March 4, 1793 by German-born astronomer William Herschel. J. L. E. Dreyer described it as, "a remarkable object, very faint, very large, very gradually then very suddenly bright middle and 4 arcsec nucleus. This is the brightest galaxy of the NGC 2997 group of galaxies, and was featured on the cover of the first edition of Galactic Dynamics by James Binney and Scott Tremaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1042</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus

NGC 1042 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered on 10 November 1885 by American astronomer Lewis Swift. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 14.0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Freeman (astronomer)</span> Australian astronomer and astrophysicist

Kenneth Charles Freeman is an Australian astronomer and astrophysicist who is currently Duffield Professor of Astronomy in the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Mount Stromlo Observatory of the Australian National University in Canberra. He was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1940, studied mathematics and physics at the University of Western Australia, and graduated with first class honours in applied mathematics in 1962. He then went to Cambridge University for postgraduate work in theoretical astrophysics with Leon Mestel and Donald Lynden-Bell, and completed his doctorate in 1965. Following a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Texas with Gérard de Vaucouleurs, and a research fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he returned to Australia in 1967 as a Queen Elizabeth Fellow at Mount Stromlo. Apart from a year in the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen in 1976 and some occasional absences overseas, he has been at Mount Stromlo ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4323</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4323 is a lenticular or dwarf elliptical galaxy located about 52.5 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered in 1882 by astronomer Wilhelm Tempel and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha P. Haynes</span> American astronomer

Martha Patricia Haynes is an American astronomer who specializes in radio astronomy and extragalactic astronomy. She is the distinguished professor of arts and sciences in astronomy at Cornell University. She has been on a number of high-level committees within the US and International Astronomical Community, including advisory committee for the Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences of the National Academies (2003–2008) and Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Review. She was a vice-president of the executive committee of the International Astronomical Union from 2006–2012, and was on the board of trustees of Associated Universities Inc from 1994 until 2016, serving two terms as board chair and one year as interim president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flocculent spiral galaxy</span> Patchy galaxy with discontinuous spiral arms

A flocculent spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy. Unlike the well-defined spiral architecture of a grand design spiral galaxy, flocculent galaxies are patchy, with discontinuous spiral arms. Self-propagating star formation is the apparent explanation for the structure of flocculent spirals. Approximately 30% of spirals are flocculent, 10% are grand design, and the rest are referred to as "multi-armed". The multiple-arm type is sometimes grouped into the flocculent category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meg Urry</span> American astrophysicist

Claudia Megan Urry is an American astrophysicist, who has served as the President of the American Astronomical Society, as chair of the Department of Physics at Yale University, and as part of the Hubble Space Telescope faculty. She is currently the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University and Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Urry is notable not only for her contributions to astronomy and astrophysics, including work on black holes and multiwavelength surveys, but also for her work addressing sexism and sex equality in astronomy, science, and academia more generally.

Bruce Gordon Elmegreen is an American astronomer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Ferrarese</span> Italian astrophysicist

Laura Ferrarese is a researcher in space science at the National Research Council of Canada. Her primary work has been performed using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5238</span> Galaxy in constellation Canes Venatici

NGC 5238 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. Located at a comoving distance of 4.51 Mpc, it is 64.4 arcseconds in diameter. It has sometimes been classified as a blue compact dwarf galaxy. Although some authors have hypothesized it to be a member of the M101 Group of galaxies, it is currently believed to be an isolated galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4294</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4294 is a barred spiral galaxy with flocculent spiral arms located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4298</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4298 is a flocculent spiral galaxy located about 53 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

Deidre A. Hunter is an American astronomer at Lowell Observatory. Her primary research area is tiny irregular galaxies — their origins, evolution and star-formation properties. She uses many parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and includes spectroscopy in her approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4393</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices

NGC 4393 is a spiral galaxy about 46 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 11, 1785. It is a member of the NGC 4274 Group, which is part of the Coma I Group or Cloud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiso 5639</span> Dwarf galaxy in Ursa Major

Kiso 5639 is an irregular dwarf galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major, approximately 85 million light-years from Earth. It has an elongated and flattened shape, with a maximum diameter that extends for approximately 2,700 light years. The new stars are distributed in about ten groups and have a mass corresponding to about one million solar masses. This intense activity also corresponds to the presence of areas in which the matter is rarefied, which were probably formed following a combination of stellar winds and supernovae explosions. The starburst of the galaxy is believed to have occurred around one million years ago.

References

  1. ↑ "Debra Anne Meloy Elmegreen". Astronomy Tree.
  2. ↑ "Library of Congress LCCN Permalink n97106480". lccn.loc.gov.
  3. ↑ Larry Hertz (September 24, 2018). "Elmegreen to Lead Worldwide Astronomy Group". Vassar College. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  4. ↑ "International Astronomical Union | IAU". iau.org. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Debra Meloy Elmegreen". Hubble Heritage Project. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ Deivasigamani, Shruthi (May 29, 2015). "The American siege on science". The Daily Princetonian. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Maran, Stephen P. (May 19, 2011). "Portman's Role In 'Thor' Highlights Rise Of Women In Astronomy". LiveScience . Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  8. 1 2 O'Neill, Ian (December 30, 2013). "When Did Galaxies Get Their Spirals?". Discover News. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ Bailey, Martha J. (1998). American women in science : 1950 to the present : a biographical dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 93. ISBN   0-87436-921-5. LCCN   98022433. OCLC   39060650. OL   362249M.
  10. 1 2 "Debra Meloy Elmegreen". Vassar College. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Past Officers and Councilors". American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey". National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  13. ↑ Elmegreen, Debra Meloy; Elmegreen, Bruce G. (January 20, 2014). "The Onset of Spiral Structure in the Universe". The Astrophysical Journal. 781 (11): 11. arXiv: 1312.2215 . Bibcode:2014ApJ...781...11E. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/781/1/11. S2CID   118661440.
  14. ↑ "New 2019 Academy Members Announced". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. April 17, 2019.
  15. ↑ George Van Biesbroeck Prize, AAS website.
  16. ↑ "AAS Fellows". AAS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "AAAS Fellows". AAAS[access-date=09 February 2022.
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.