Jane Luu
| Jane Lưu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
July 1963 (age 50) Saigon, Vietnam |
| Residence | Lexington, Massachusetts |
| Fields | Astronomy, Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Harvard University, Lincoln Laboratory at MIT. |
| Alma mater | Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | Physical Studies of Primitive Solar System Bodies (1992 [1]) |
| Doctoral advisor | David Jewitt |
| Known for | Discovery the Kuiper belt |
| Notable awards | Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy 1991, Shaw Prize 2012, Kavli Prize 2012 |
| Spouse | Ronnie Hoogerwerf |
Prof. Dr. Jane Luu (a.k.a. Jane X. Luu, Vietnamese: Lưu Lệ Hằng [2]) is a Vietnamese American astronomer.
Early life
Luu was born in July 1963 in South Vietnam to a father who worked as a translator for the U.S. Army.[3] Her father taught her French as a child, beginning her lifelong love of languages.[4]
Luu immigrated to the United States as a refugee in 1975, when the South Vietnamese government fell. She and her family settled in Kentucky, where she had relatives. A visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory inspired her to study astronomy.[4] She attended Stanford University, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1984.[5]
Work as a graduate student and co-discovery of the Kuiper Belt
| Asteroids discovered: 32 | |
|---|---|
| 10370 Hylonome[1] | February 27, 1995 |
| (15760) 1992 QB1[1] | August 20, 1992 |
| (15809) 1994 JS[1] | May 11, 1994 |
| (15836) 1995 DA2[1] | February 24, 1995 |
| (15874) 1996 TL66[1][2][3] | October 9, 1996 |
| (15875) 1996 TP66[1][3] | October 11, 1996 |
| (19308) 1996 TO66[1][3] | October 12, 1996 |
| (20161) 1996 TR66[1][2][3] | October 8, 1996 |
| (24952) 1997 QJ4[1][3][4] | August 28, 1997 |
| (24978) 1998 HJ151[1][3][5] | April 28, 1998 |
| (26375) 1999 DE9[3] | February 20, 1999 |
| (33001) 1997 CU29[1][2][3] | February 6, 1997 |
| (58534) 1997 CQ29[1][2][3] | February 4, 1997 |
| (59358) 1999 CL158[1][3] | February 11, 1999 |
| (60608) 2000 EE173[3][6] | March 3, 2000 |
| 66652 Borasisi[1][3] | September 8, 1999 |
| 79360 Sila-Nunam[1][2][3] | February 3, 1997 |
| (79969) 1999 CP133[1][3] | February 11, 1999 |
| (79978) 1999 CC158[1][3][7] | February 15, 1999 |
| (79983) 1999 DF9[1][3] | February 20, 1999 |
| (91554) 1999 RZ215[1][3] | September 8, 1999 |
| (118228) 1996 TQ66[1][2][3] | October 8, 1996 |
| (129746) 1999 CE119[1][3] | February 10, 1999 |
| (134568) 1999 RH215[1][3] | September 7, 1999 |
| (137294) 1999 RE215[1][3] | September 7, 1999 |
| (137295) 1999 RB216[1][3] | September 8, 1999 |
| (148112) 1999 RA216[1][3] | September 8, 1999 |
| (181708) 1993 FW[1] | March 28, 1993 |
| (181867) 1999 CV118[1][3] | February 10, 1999 |
| (181868) 1999 CG119[1][3] | February 11, 1999 |
| (181871) 1999 CO153[1][3] | February 12, 1999 |
| (181902) 1999 RD215[1][3] | September 6, 1999 |
| |
As a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley[6] and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she worked with David C. Jewitt to discover the Kuiper Belt.[4] In 1992, after five years of observation, they found the first known Kuiper Belt object, using the University of Hawaii's 2.2 meter telescope on Mauna Kea.[3][7] This object is (15760) 1992 QB1, which she and Jewitt nicknamed "Smiley".[5] The American Astronomical Society awarded Luu the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1991. In 1992, Luu received a Hubble Fellowship from the Space Telescope Science Institute and chose the University of California, Berkeley as a host institution. The asteroid 5430 Luu is named in her honor.[8][9] She received her PhD in 1992 at MIT.
Professional life
After receiving her doctorate, Luu worked as a professor at Harvard University, since 1994.[5] Luu also served as a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands.[4] Following her time in Europe, Luu returned to the United States and works on instrumentation as a Senior Scientist at Lincoln Laboratory at MIT.
In December 2004, Luu and Jewitt reported the discovery of crystalline water ice on Quaoar, which was at the time the largest known Kuiper Belt object. They also found indications of ammonia hydrate. Their report theorized that the ice likely formed underground, becoming exposed after a collision with another Kuiper Belt object sometime in the last few million years.[10]
In 2012, she won (along with David C. Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles) the Shaw Prize "for their discovery and characterization of trans-Neptunian bodies, an archeological treasure dating back to the formation of the solar system and the long-sought source of short period comets" [11] and the Kavli Prize (shared with Jewitt and Michael E. Brown) “for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members, work that led to a major advance in the understanding of the history of our planetary system.”.[12]
Personal life
Luu enjoys traveling, and has worked for Save the Children in Nepal. She enjoys a variety of outdoor activities and plays the cello. She met her husband, Ronnie Hoogerwerf, who is also an astronomer, while in Leiden.[4]
Honors, awards and accolades
- 1991 Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy
- 2012 Shaw Prize in Astronomy [13]
- 2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics [14]
The asteroid 5430 Luu is named in her honor.[15]
Some publishing
- NASA Astrophysics Data System publication listing, Over 200 publications are listing
- Luu, Jane; D.C. Jewitt and C. Trujillo (2000). "Water ice in 2060 Chiron and its implications for Centaurs and Kuiper Belt objects". Astrophysical Journal 531 (2): L151–L154. arXiv:astro-ph/0002094. Bibcode:2000ApJ...531L.151L. doi:10.1086/312536. PMID 10688775.
- Luu, Jane; D.C. Jewitt (1998). "Deep Imaging of the Kuiper Belt with the Keck 10-Meter Telescope". Astrophysical Journal 502: L91–L94. Bibcode:1998ApJ...502L..91L. doi:10.1086/311490.
- Luu, Jane; B. Marsden, D.C. Jewitt, C. Trujillo, C. Hegenrother, J. Chen and W. Offutt (1997). "A New Dynamical Class of Object in the Outer Solar System". Nature 387 (6633): 573. Bibcode:1997Natur.387..573L. doi:10.1038/42413.
- Luu, Jane; D.C. Jewitt (1996). "Color Diversity among the Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects". Astronomical Journal 112: 2310–2318. Bibcode:1996AJ....112.2310L. doi:10.1086/118184.
- Luu, Jane; D.C. Jewitt (1992). "High Resolution Surface Brightness Profiles of Near-Earth Asteroids". Icarus 97 (2): 276–287. Bibcode:1992Icar...97..276L. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(92)90134-S.
- Luu, Jane (1991). "CCD Photometry and Spectroscopy of Outer Jovian Satellites". Astronomical Journal 102: 1213–1225. Bibcode:1991AJ....102.1213L. doi:10.1086/115949.
- Crystalline Ice on Kuiper Belt Object (50000) Quaoar (article co-written with David Jewitt, published in the December 9, 2004 issue of Nature)
- The Shape Distribution of Kuiper Belt Objects (paper co-written with Pedro Lacerda, June 2003)
- Comet Impact on McMaster (presentation summary, November 2001)
- Accretion in the Early Kuiper Belt I. Coagulation and Velocity Evolution (paper co-written with Scott J. Kenyon, published in May 1998 Astronomical Journal)
- Optical and Infrared Reflectance Spectrum of Kuiper Belt Object 1996 TL66 (paper co-written with D.C. Jewitt, January 1998)
References
- ↑ Graduate Student Advisees by David Jewitt
- ↑ Hữu Thiện, Jane Lưu lên núi ngắm sao..., Vietnamnet, 2004
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bartusiak, Marcia (February 1996). "The Remarkable Odyssey of Jane Luu". Astronomy 24: 46. Bibcode:1996Ast....24...46B. Autobiography of Jane Luu 17 September 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 An Interview With...Jane Luu, 21 March 2003
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 May/June 1998 Feature Alum, Jane Luu, '84. CLASS NOTABLE: JANE LUU, '84, Scoping the Cosmos By Erika Check, '99
- ↑ The Kuiper Belt Michael E. Brown, Physics Today, doi:10.1063/1.1752422
- ↑ University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope - Public Information Richard J. Wainscoat
- ↑ John Keith Davies (2001). Beyond Beyond Pluto: Exploring the Outer Limits of the Solar System. Cambridge University Press. p. 219.
- ↑ Marquis Who's Who. 2006.
- ↑ Chang, Kenneth (December 9, 2004). "Astronomers Entertain Visions of Icy Volcanoes in Faraway Places". The New York Times. pp. A33.
- ↑ The 2012 Shaw Prize
- ↑ Dresselhaus, Graybiel, Luu receive 2012 Kavli Prizes - MIT News Office
- ↑ The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2012 29 May 2012
- ↑ Kavli Prize 2012
- ↑ John Keith Davies (2001). Beyond Pluto: Exploring the Outer Limits of the Solar System. Cambridge University Press. p. 219. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
- http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2012_10_19/caredit.a1200116 No Starry Eyed Astronomer. Vijaysree Venkatraman (October 2012)