Alan Boss

Alan P. Boss ( born July 20, 1951 in Lakewood, Ohio) is an American astrophysicist and astronomer.

Life

Since graduating from the University of South Florida and the University of California, Santa Barbara Boss has emerged particularly in the subject area of ​​solar and planetary system formation and by studies of extrasolar planets. He wrote much-cited contributions to the formation of gas giants and binary star systems. Boss is currently associate at the Carnegie Institution for Science.

When NASA was boss from 2010 to 2012 Chairman of the Subcommittee for Astrophysics in " NAC Science Committee ". He is since 2001 in the NASA Working Group worked for the Kepler Mission and Exoplanet Exploration Program Member of the Technology Assessment Committee. Both are concerned with the detection and characterization of nearby habitable Earth-like planets.

Boss is a member of many scientific academies and societies, including among others, the American Astronomical Society, and is active in permanent working groups.

Awards

In 2008, Boss received a " NASA Group Achievement " for his role in " Astrobiology Roadmap".

The asteroid ( 29137 ) Alan Boss was named after him.

Works

• Alan Boss: Looking for Earths: The Race to Find New Solar Systems. John Wiley & Sons, New York 1998, ISBN 978-0-471-18421-8 (HC) ISBN 978-0-471-37911-9 ( PB).
• Alan Boss: The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets. Basic Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-465-00936-7.