Suzanne Aigrain | |
---|---|
![]() Suzanne Aigrain in 2018 | |
Born | [1] | January 9, 1979
Education | Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat |
Alma mater | Imperial College London (BSc) University of Cambridge (PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astrophysics Astronomy Exoplanets Bayesian inference |
Institutions | University of Oxford University of Exeter University of Cambridge |
Thesis | Planetary transits and stellar variability (2005) |
Website | www |
Suzanne Aigrain (born 1979)[1] is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.[2] She studies exoplanets and stellar variability.[3]
Early life and education
[edit]Aigrain grew up in Toulouse, France, and was educated at the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat.[1] She studied physics at Imperial College London and graduated in 2000.[2] During her undergraduate studies she was an intern at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. She spent sixth months at the European Space Agency[4] before joining the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge for her doctoral studies, earning a PhD in 2005[2][5] for work on planetary transits and stellar variability.[5]
Career and research
[edit]Aigrain was a postdoctoral research associate in the Institute of Astronomy from 2004.[2] In 2007 Aigrain joined the University of Exeter as a lecturer.[2][6][7] She was appointed a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 2010.[2][8] She leads the Stars & Planets group at Oxford Astrophysics, studying exoplanets and their stars.[9] She uses the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Telescope and CoRoT satellite.[10] In 2011 she hosted a meeting with the Institute of Physics and Royal Astronomical Society to discuss recent discoveries in exoplanets, attended by Giovanna Tinetti and Jocelyn Bell Burnell.[11]
She has expressed her concerns about the detection of planets using the radial velocity method to detect exoplanets; such as instrumental precision, stellar activity, patchy observations and limitations of other models.[12] She was part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) discovery of the Earth sized planet close to Alpha Centauri Bb,[13] but played an even closer role in the study that disproved the planet's existence in 2016.[14]
Aigrain and her group use Bayesian inference to correct for instrumental systematics while robustly preserving real astrophysical signals. She has played a leading role in the Kepler (K2) mission, correcting for its systematic noise and discovering many transiting planets.[15] Aigrain has studied hot Jupiters and other Jupiter-like planets.[16] She has looked at the potential to use transit surveys to study stellar clusters.[17] Her research has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).[18]
In 2019 Algrain was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant to study exoplanets.[19]
Aigrain is interested in public engagement and regularly delivers popular science lectures.[10][20][21][22] She spoke about exoplanets on In Our Time in 2013.,[23] and has taken part in Pint of Science.[24] In 2018 she spoke at the Oxford Playhouse, accompanying the play One Small Step.[25] In November 2018 she was part of the Kings Place Bach, the Universe and Everything performance.[26] She is a member of the International Astronomical Union.[27] She writes non-fiction with Philippe Aigrain, as well as writing her own poetry.[28][29][30]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Aigrain, Suzanne (2007). "Suzanne Aigrain CV" (PDF). Ex.ac.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-08-07.
- ^ a b c d e f "All Souls College Oxford". Asc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Suzanne Aigrain - University of Oxford Department of Physics". 2.physics.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ "Suzanne AIGRAIN - Innovation Convention 2014". Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ a b Aigrain, Suzanne (2005). Planetary transits and stellar variability. Inspirehep.net (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. arXiv:astro-ph/0501558. OCLC 890157875. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.614684.
- ^ "Dr Suzanne Aigrain". Newton.ex.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Past group photos | Physics and Astronomy | University of Exeter". Emps.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Suzanne Aigrain: homepage". Astro.ex.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "about – stars & planets @ oxford". Splox.net. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ a b "Interview: Suzanne Aigrain | SpaceCareers.uk". SpaceCareers.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "A golden age of exoplanet discovery". Spacedaily.com. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Interview with Suzanne Aigrain : On the Search for nearby Earth-like Exoplanets". PALE RED DOT (in French). 2016-02-14. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "UK astronomers celebrate discovery of new Earth-sized planet - Science and Technology Facilities Council". Stfc.ukri.org. United Kingdom Research and Innovation. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ Rajpaul, V.; Aigraine, S. (2016). "Ghost in the time series: no planet for Alpha Cen B." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 456 (1): L6–L10. arXiv:1510.05598. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slv164. S2CID 119294717.
- ^ Howell, Steve B.; Sobeck, Charlie; Haas, Michael; Still, Martin; Barclay, Thomas; Mullally, Fergal; Troeltzsch, John; Aigrain, Suzanne; Bryson, Stephen T. (2014). "The K2 Mission: Characterization and Early Results". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 126 (938): 398–408. arXiv:1402.5163. Bibcode:2014PASP..126..398H. doi:10.1086/676406. ISSN 0004-6280. S2CID 119206652.
- ^ Fletcher, Leigh N.; Irwin, Patrick G. J.; Barstow, Joanna K.; Kok, Remco J. de; Lee, Jae-Min; Aigrain, Suzanne (2014). "Exploring the diversity of Jupiter-class planets". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 372 (2014): 20130064. Bibcode:2014RSPTA.37230064F. doi:10.1098/rsta.2013.0064. ISSN 1364-503X. PMC 3982424. PMID 24664910.
- ^ Aigrain, S.; Pont, F. (2007). "On the potential of transit surveys in star clusters: impact of correlated noise and radial velocity follow-up". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 378 (2): 741–752. arXiv:0704.0574. Bibcode:2007MNRAS.378..741A. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11823.x. ISSN 0035-8711. S2CID 15479773.
- ^ "GTR". gtr.ukri.org. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "ERC awards over €600 million to Europe's top researchers". ERC: European Research Council. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
- ^ Anon. "Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanets". Iop.org. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanets" (PDF). Rse.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ Follow The Evidence (2017-07-03), Where and How Might We Search for Life? - Suzanne Aigrain, retrieved 2018-11-25
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Exoplanets". Bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Deep space discoveries". Pintofscience.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "One Small Step: Far Beyond The Moon". Oxfordplayhouse.com. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Worlds Beyond • Kings Place". Kings Place. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Suzanne Aigrain at IAU". Iau.org. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ Aigrain, Philippe (2012). Sharing: Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789089643858.
- ^ "About | www.sharing-thebook.com". Sharing-thebook.com. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Suzanne Aigrain: Poetry". Astro.ex.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-25.