Jessica Mink

Last updated
Jessica Mink
BornFebruary 1951 (age 73)
Lincoln, Nebraska
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forDiscovery of rings of Uranus

Jessica Mink (formerly Douglas John Mink [1] ) is an American software developer and a data archivist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. [2] She was part of the team that discovered the rings around the planet Uranus. [3]

Contents

Early life and career

Mink was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1951 [4] and graduated from Dundee Community High School in 1969. She earned an S.B. degree (1973) and an S.M. degree (1974) in Planetary Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She worked at Cornell University from 1976 to 1979 as an astronomical software developer. [5] It was during this time that she was part of the team that discovered the rings around Uranus. [6] Within the team she was responsible for the data reduction software and the data analysis. [7] After working at Cornell she moved back to MIT, where she did work that contributed to the discovery of the rings of Neptune. [8] She has written a number of commonly used software packages for astrophysics, including WCSTools and RVSAO. [7] [9]

Despite not having a PhD, Mink is a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. [10]

Personal life

Mink is an avid bicycle user. [11] She has served as an officer and director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition [12] and has been the route planner for the Massachusetts portion of the East Coast Greenway since 1991.

Mink is a transgender woman, and she publicly came out in 2011 at the age of 60. [13] She has since spoken out about her experiences transitioning. [14] She was also featured in two articles about the experiences of transitioning in a professional environment. [13] [15] She was a co-organiser of the 2015 Inclusive Astronomy conference at Vanderbilt University. [16]

Mink currently lives in Massachusetts (USA), and has a daughter.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ring system</span> Ring of cosmic dust orbiting an astronomical object

A ring system is a disc or torus orbiting an astronomical object that is composed of solid material such as gas, dust, meteoroids, planetoids or moonlets and stellar objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranus</span> Seventh planet from the Sun

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or volatiles. The planet's atmosphere has a complex layered cloud structure and has the lowest minimum temperature of all the Solar System's planets. It has a marked axial tilt of 82.23° with a retrograde rotation period of 17 hours and 14 minutes. This means that in an 84-Earth-year orbital period around the Sun, its poles get around 42 years of continuous sunlight, followed by 42 years of continuous darkness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williamina Fleming</span> Scottish astronomer (1857–1911)

Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was a Scottish astronomer. She was a single mother hired by the director of the Harvard College Observatory to help in the photographic classification of stellar spectra. She helped develop a common designation system for stars and cataloged more than ten thousand stars, 59 gaseous nebulae, over 310 variable stars, and 10 novae and other astronomical phenomena. Among several career achievements that advanced astronomy, Fleming is noted for her discovery of the Horsehead Nebula in 1888.

<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">Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin</span> British-American astronomer (1900–1979)

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was a British-American astronomer and astrophysicist. In her 1925 doctoral thesis she proposed that stars were composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Her groundbreaking conclusion was initially rejected, because it contradicted the science of the time, which held that no significant elemental differences distinguished the Sun and Earth. Independent observations eventually proved that she was correct. Her work on the nature of variable stars was foundational to modern astrophysics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard College Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, and was founded in 1839. With the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, it forms part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics</span> Astronomical observatory in Massachusetts, US

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), previously known as the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is an astrophysics research institute jointly operated by the Harvard College Observatory and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, the CfA leads a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics, Earth and space sciences, as well as science education. The CfA either leads or participates in the development and operations of more than fifteen ground- and space-based astronomical research observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the forthcoming Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, one of NASA's Great Observatories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Goldreich</span> American astrophysicist (born 1939)

Peter Goldreich is an American astrophysicist whose research focuses on celestial mechanics, planetary rings, helioseismology and neutron stars. He is the Lee DuBridge Professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Physics at California Institute of Technology. Since 2005 he has also been a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Asteroid 3805 Goldreich is named after him.

James Ludlow Elliot was an American astronomer and scientist who, as part of a team, discovered the rings around the planet Uranus. Elliot was also part of a team that observed global warming on Triton, the largest moon of Neptune.

Lisa Jennifer Kewley is an Australian Astrophysicist and current Director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Previously, Kewley was Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3-D and ARC Laureate Fellow at the Australian National University College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, where she was also a Professor. Specialising in galaxy evolution, she won the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 2005 for her studies of oxygen in galaxies, and the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy in 2008. In 2014 she was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In 2020 she received the James Craig Watson Medal. In 2021 she was elected as an international member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2022 she became the first female director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Scott Duncan Tremaine is a Canadian-born astrophysicist. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Canada and the National Academy of Sciences. Tremaine is widely regarded as one of the world's leading astrophysicists for his contributions to the theory of Solar System and galactic dynamics. Tremaine is the namesake of asteroid 3806 Tremaine. He is credited with coining the name "Kuiper belt".

<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">Neptune</span> Eighth planet from the Sun

Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times the mass of Earth and slightly more massive, but denser and smaller, than fellow ice giant Uranus. Being composed primarily of gases and liquids, it has no well-defined solid surface, and orbits the Sun once every 164.8 years at an orbital distance of 30.1 astronomical units. It is named after the Roman god of the sea and has the astronomical symbol , representing Neptune's trident.

Philip D. Nicholson is an Australian-born professor of astronomy at Cornell University in the Astronomy department specialising in Planetary Sciences. He was editor-in-chief of the journal Icarus between 1998 and 2018.

The Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL) is an online registry of scientist-written software used in astronomy or astrophysics research. The primary objective of the ASCL is to make the software used in research available for examination to improve the transparency of research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard</span>

The Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard (DASCH) is a project to preserve and digitize images recorded on astronomical photographic plates created before astronomy became dominated by digital imaging. It is a major project of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Over 500,000 glass plates held by the Harvard College Observatory are to be digitized. The digital images will contribute to time domain astronomy, providing over a hundred years of data that may be compared to current observations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Langdon Williams</span> American human computer and astronomer

Elizabeth Langdon Williams was an American human computer and astronomer whose work helped lead to the discovery of Pluto, or Planet X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dara Norman</span> Astronomer

Dara J. Norman is an astronomer and the deputy director of the Community Science and Data Center at the National Science Foundation's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) in Tucson, Arizona. She is also the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Diversity Advocate at NOAO. Her research centers on the influence of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) on the evolution of galaxies. In 2020, she was inducted into the inaugural cohort of American Astronomical Society Fellows in recognition of her leadership and achievements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Laker</span> British Economist

Benjamin Laker is a former government advisor turned scholar currently serving as Professor of Leadership and Director of Impact and Global Engagement at Henley Business School, University of Reading and Visiting Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. His work on Economic Inequality and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance informs public policy, law and government inquiry.

Amanda Bosh is an American planetary scientist and observational astronomer best known for her work on small solar system objects. She is the chief operating officer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. and is involved which the Lowell Observatory Native American Outreach program, which she co-founded.

References

  1. ↑ "Doug to Jessica" . Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  2. ↑ Craggs, Charlie (2017-10-19). To My Trans Sisters. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN   9781784506681.
  3. ↑ Elliot, J.L.; E. Dunham; D. Mink (1977). "The Rings of Uranus". Nature . 267 (5609): 328–330. Bibcode:1977Natur.267..328E. doi:10.1038/267328a0. S2CID   4194104.
  4. ↑ Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology. 1st ed. 1984-1985. Chicago 1984, p. 512
  5. ↑ "Jessica D. Mink". tdc-www.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  6. ↑ "40 years of Uranus's rings | BBC Sky at Night Magazine". www.skyatnightmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  7. 1 2 Richey, Christina (2016-08-16). "Women In Astronomy: Meet Your CSWA: Jessica Mink". Women In Astronomy. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Women in Atmospheric Sciences Luncheon". 2018 AMS Annual Meeting. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  9. ↑ "IMWCS Image World Coordinate Setting Utility". tdc-www.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  10. ↑ "WGLE interviews: Jessica Mink | SGMA". sgma.aas.org. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  11. ↑ O’Connor, Brion. "Still on a bike in winter weather". edition.pagesuite.com. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  12. ↑ "Jessica Mink, MassPaths Webmistress". March 11, 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. 1 2 Clark, Dorie (2015-02-03). "Managing Your Professional Identity During a Gender Change". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  14. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Jessica (2014-12-16). "Women In Astronomy: On Being a Transgender Astronomer". Women In Astronomy. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  15. ↑ Clark, Dorie (2015-02-05). "What to Do When Your Colleague Comes Out as Transgender". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  16. ↑ "Inclusive Astronomy Conference Confronts Diversity Issues". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
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.