Felicitas Arias

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Felicitas Arias
FelicitasArias2.jpg
Felicitas Arias in 2024
Born1952 (1952) (age 73)
La Plata, Argentina
Alma mater University of La Plata
Paris Observatory
Known forStudies on International Celestial Reference System
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy and geodesy
Institutions International Bureau of Weights and Measures

Elisa Felicitas Arias (born 1952) is an Argentine astronomer. She worked as Head of Time, Frequency and Gravimetry at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) between 1999 and 2017, and is recognised for her contributions to the definition and implementation of the International Celestial Reference System.

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Early life and education

Arias was born in 1952 in La Plata, Argentina. [1] She was the only child of a pharmacist and a police commissioner. [1] Her father was of Italian descent, and her mother was of Spanish descent. [1]

She studied primary education at the University of La Plata school. [1] She inherited her interest in astronomy from an uncle, and ended up graduating in astronomy from the University of La Plata in 1976. [1] [2] [3] [2] She also taught at that University. [1]

In 1986, Arias moved to France for temporary research work and in 1990 she obtained her PhD in asymmetry, celestial mechanics and geodesy at the Paris Observatory. [1] [3] [2]

Career

In 1991, Arias was appointed director of the Buenos Aires Naval Observatory  [ es ], responsible for the official time in Argentina. [1] [3] She began there as scientific director until her position absorbed the military directorate. [1] During that time, she also worked on defining and implementing the International Celestial Reference System at the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), which served to study the Earth's rotation and determine when to add the leap second. [1]

After the position of head of the Time, Frequency and Gravimetry section of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) became vacant, Arias applied for the job and won the competition in 1999, moving with her family to Paris. [1] [2] Her job consisted of coordinating the international time reference of the 80 atomic clocks around the world and using that data to perform calculations and computations to provide the UTC. [2] She retired in 2017. [3]

Arias has expressed the need to eliminate the leap second and not coordinate time with the Earth's rotation, as it is "imperceptible" to civilian life and is causing "inconveniences for certain applications that require uniform time". [2] [4] In a press release, she stated that the drift of about one minute every 60–90 years could be compared to the 16-minute annual variation between true solar time and mean solar time, the one hour offset by use of daylight time, and the several-hours offset in certain geographically extra-large time zones. [5]

She wrote the prologue to the book Astronomy in Lilliput: Introductory Workshops on Space Sciences and collaborated with other professionals from the University of La Plata in preparing topics for the book Objective Universe. [6] [7]

Personal life

Arias married in 1995 and had her only daughter two years later. [2]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Otres en STEAM: ¿Quién es Felicitas Arias?". Medium . 8 August 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sugobono, Nahuel (11 June 2017). "La científica argentina que controla la hora del mundo". Clarín . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Elffman, Julieta (30 May 2022). "Felicitas Arias: la argentina que controló el paso del tiempo en el mundo durante 20 años, pero que en su casa no tiene ni un reloj en hora". La Nación . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  4. ↑ Jordans, Frank (17 January 2012). "Countries consider time out on the 'leap second'". The Washington Times . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  5. ↑ "The proposed redefinition of Coordinated Universal Time, UTC" (PDF) (Press release). BIPM. 13 October 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Horacio Tignaneli (2006). Colihue S.R.L. (ed.). Astronomía en Liliput - Talleres de introduccion a las ciencias del espacio (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Colihue. p. 7. ISBN   950-581-701-0.
  7. ↑ Alejandro Feinstein; Horacion Tignanelli (2005). Colihue SRL (ed.). Objetivo Universo (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Colihue. p. 10. ISBN   950-581-656-1.
  8. ↑ "The Metrology of Time". WorldCat . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  9. ↑ "One more second". Nature . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  10. ↑ "The Science of Time 2016 : Time in Astronomy & Society, Past, Present and Future". WorldCat. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Atomic Time Scales and Their Applications in Astronomy". WorldCat. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "New Technologies and the Future of Timekeeping". WorldCat. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "The Hyperfine Transition for the Definition of the Second". WorldCat . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "PREFACE: Global navigation satellite systems: Recent scientific advances". WorldCat . Retrieved 18 October 2025.
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