Catherine Cesarsky
Catherine Jeanne Cesarsky (* 1943 in Ambazac, France ) is a French astronomer, known for her successful research activities in several central areas of modern astrophysics. She was President of the International Astronomical Union and Director General of the European Southern Observatory.
Training
However Born in France Catherine Cesarsky grew up primarily in Argentina and earned a degree in physics at the University of Buenos Aires. She graduated with a PhD in Astronomy in 1971 at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass. , USA) and then worked for several years at the California Institute of Technology.
Career
In 1974 she moved to France and became assistant at the Service d' Astrophysique ( SAp ), Direction des Sciences de la Matière (DSM ), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA ). In France, she started her career. From 1985 to 1993 she was chairman of the SAp. As director of the DSM from 1994 to 1999 she led a team of about 3,000 scientists, engineers and technicians active in a wide range of research programs in the fields of physics, chemistry, astrophysics and earth sciences.
From 1999 to 2007 she was Director General of the European Southern Observatory. In their time, the responsibility of completion of construction of the Very Large Telescope and its instruments and the beginning of its operation fell, the financial statements of the agreements and construction of ALMA and the start of studies on the European Extremely Large Telescope.
From August 2006 to August 2009 she was President of the International Astronomical Union.
From April 2009 to April 2012 she was High Commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission in France and advisor to the French Government for energy and science issues. She chaired the committee of science programs of the French Space Agency CNES before ( Centre_national_d'études_spatiales ), the Advisory Committee Euratom - Fusion ( CCE -FU).
In 1998, she received the COSPAR ( Committee on Space Research ) Space Science Award. She is a member or guest member of several academies ( Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea, International Academy of Astronautics, National Academy of Sciences, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of London) and an honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva. She is commander of both the Ordre national du Mérite and the Legion of Honor.
Research
Dr. Cesarsky is known for its research activities in several central areas of modern astrophysics. The beginning of her career she dedicated high-energy physics. They explored here the propagation and composition of cosmic radiation, matter and fields in the diffuse interstellar medium, as well as the acceleration of particles by astrophysical shocks, such as associated with supernovae.
Then switched to infrared astronomy. It was in this area of research director of the ISOCAM camera on board the Infrared Space Observatory of ESA, which was in operation between 1995 and 1998. When they initiated the ISOCAM central program that coordinates the infrared emissions from various galactic and extragalactic sources explored and thus exciting new results could contribute to the fields of star formation and evolution of galaxies. These results were confirmed by further results of the ESO VLT and the space telescopes such as the Spitzer and Herschel space telescope now.
Awards and honors
- Winner of the 1998 COSPAR Space Science Award.
- Chevalier de l' Ordre National du Mérite (1989 )
- Chevalier de la Légion d' Honneur (1994 )
- Officier de l' Ordre National du Mérite (1999).
- Officier de la Légion d' Honneur ( 2004).
- Commandeur de l' Ordre National du Mérite
- Commandeur de la Légion d' Honneur (2011)
- Member of the French Academy of Sciences
- Member of the Academia Europaea
- Member of the International Academy of Astronautics
- Guest of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Guest Fellow of the Royal Society in London
- Jules Janssen Award of the French Astronomical Society
- 2010 Honorary Doctor of the University of Geneva