Graziella Branduardi-Raymont | |
---|---|
Born | Graziella Branduardi |
Nationality | Italian |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy Planetary science |
Institutions | Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (1977–1979) University College London Mullard Space Science Laboratory (1979–2023) |
Graziella Branduardi-Raymont ( - 3 November 2023 [1] [2] ) was an Italian physicist. She was a professor at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL).
Branduardi-Raymont obtained a degree in physics from the University of Milan in 1973, and in 1974 began studying for a PhD at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL). [3] She finished her PhD in X-ray Astronomy in 1977 and subsequently moved to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
She returned to MSSL in 1979 as a research assistant before achieving lecturership in 1987 and becoming a reader in astronomy in 1992. During the 1990s she took on the role of MSSL project manager for the digital electronics of the reflection grating spectrometer flying on board ESA's XMM-Newton mission. In 2009, she was appointed professor of space astronomy. [4] At the time of her death, her research was focused on planetary X-ray emission alongside her role as Co-PI for the joint ESA – Chinese Academy of Sciences SMILE mission that is scheduled to launch in 2025. [5] [6]
Branduardi-Raymont's research interests [7] included:
The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the Space ShuttleColumbia during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors. Since the Earth's atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopes; therefore space-based telescopes are required to make these observations. Chandra is an Earth satellite in a 64-hour orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2024.
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Lucinda "Lucie" May Green is a British science communicator and solar physicist.
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Sarah Anna Matthews is a British physicist. She is professor and head of solar physics at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL). She is also chairperson of UK Solar Physics.
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