Alexander Tielens

Alexander Tielens presenting at the Royal Astronomical Society in 2012.

Alexander Godfried Gerardus Maria (Xander) Tielens (born 1953) is an astronomer at Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, in the Netherlands. In 2012 he received the highest distinction in Dutch science, the Spinoza Prize.[1]

Biography

Tielens has contributed significantly to several fields of astronomy, including interstellar physics and astrochemistry.[2] He is mostly known for his work on large aromatic molecules (PAHs) in space[3] and on photodissociation regions.[4] He is also the author of a reference textbook on the interstellar medium.[5]

Tielens is the project scientist of the HIFI instrument on board of the Herschel Space Observatory. He formerly was the NASA Project Scientist of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

References

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  1. ↑ NWO Spinoza Prize website
  2. ↑ NASA ADS Citation report
  3. ↑ Review on PAHs
  4. ↑ Hollenbach, D.J.; Tielens, A.G.G.M. (1999). "Photodissociation regions in the interstellar medium of galaxies". Review of Modern Physics 71 (1): 173. Bibcode:1999RvMP...71..173H. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.71.173.
  5. ↑ The Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium