Jane Luu

Jane Lưu

Jane Luu was the featured speaker at Stellafane, VT on Aug.3,2011
Born

July 1963 (age 53)


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
Minor planets discovered: 35 [2]
10370 Hylonome [A] February 27, 1995
(15760) 1992 QB1 [A] August 20, 1992
(15809) 1994 JS [A] May 11, 1994
(15836) 1995 DA2 [A] February 24, 1995
(15874) 1996 TL66 [A][B][C] October 9, 1996
(15875) 1996 TP66 [A][C] October 11, 1996
(19308) 1996 TO66 [A][C] October 12, 1996
(20161) 1996 TR66 [A][B][C] October 8, 1996
(24952) 1997 QJ4 [A][C][D] August 28, 1997
(24978) 1998 HJ151 [A][C][E] April 28, 1998
(26375) 1999 DE9 [C] February 20, 1999
(33001) 1997 CU29 [A][B][C] February 6, 1997
(59358) 1999 CL158 [A][C] February 11, 1999
(60608) 2000 EE173 [C][F] March 3, 2000
66652 Borasisi [A][C] September 8, 1999
79360 Sila–Nunam [A][B][C] February 3, 1997
(79969) 1999 CP133 [A][C] February 11, 1999
(79978) 1999 CC158 [A][C][G] February 15, 1999
(79983) 1999 DF9 [A][C] February 20, 1999
(91554) 1999 RZ215 [A][C] September 8, 1999
(118228) 1996 TQ66 [A][B][C] October 8, 1996
(129746) 1999 CE119 [A][C] February 10, 1999
(134568) 1999 RH215 [A][C] September 7, 1999
(137294) 1999 RE215 [A][C] September 7, 1999
(137295) 1999 RB216 [A][C] September 8, 1999
(148112) 1999 RA216 [A][C] September 8, 1999
(181708) 1993 FW [A] March 28, 1993
(181867) 1999 CV118 [A][C] February 10, 1999
(181868) 1999 CG119 [A][C] February 11, 1999
(181871) 1999 CO153 [A][C] February 12, 1999
(181902) 1999 RD215 [A][C] September 6, 1999
(385185) 1993 RO [A] September 14, 1993
(385201) 1999 RN215 [A][C] September 7, 1999
(415720) 1999 RU215 [A][C] September 7, 1999
(469306) 1999 CD158 [A][C] February 10, 1999
Legend to co-discoverers:

Dr. Jane X. Luu (Vietnamese: Lưu Lệ Hằng;[3] born July 1963) 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.[4] Her father taught her French as a child, beginning her lifelong love of languages.[5]

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.[5] She attended Stanford University, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1984.[6]

Work as a graduate student and co-discovery of the Kuiper Belt

As a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley[7] and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she worked with David C. Jewitt to discover the Kuiper Belt.[5] In 1992, after five years of observation, they found the first known Kuiper Belt object other than Pluto and its largest moon Charon, using the University of Hawaii's 2.2 meter telescope on Mauna Kea.[4][8] This object is (15760) 1992 QB1, which she and Jewitt nicknamed "Smiley".[6] 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 Phocaea maine-belt asteroid 5430 Luu is named in her honor.[9][10] She received her PhD in 1992 at MIT.

Professional life

After receiving her doctorate, Luu worked as a professor at Harvard University, since 1994.[6] Luu also served as a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands.[5] 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.[11]

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" [12] 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”.[13]

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, the Netherlands.[5]

Honors, awards and accolades

Some publishing

References

  1. ↑ Graduate Student Advisees by David Jewitt
  2. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Hữu Thiện, Jane Lưu lên núi ngắm sao..., Vietnamnet, 2004
  4. 1 2 Bartusiak, Marcia (February 1996). "The Remarkable Odyssey of Jane Luu" (PDF). Astronomy. 24: 46. Bibcode:1996Ast....24...46B. Autobiography of Jane Luu 17 September 2012
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 An Interview With...Jane Luu, 21 March 2003
  6. 1 2 3 May/June 1998 Feature Alum, Jane Luu, '84. CLASS NOTABLE: JANE LUU, '84, Scoping the Cosmos By Erika Check, '99
  7. ↑ The Kuiper Belt Michael E. Brown, Physics Today, doi:10.1063/1.1752422
  8. ↑ University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope - Public Information Richard J. Wainscoat
  9. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (5430) Luu. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 464. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  10. ↑ Marquis Who's Who. 2006.
  11. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (December 9, 2004). "Astronomers Entertain Visions of Icy Volcanoes in Faraway Places". The New York Times. pp. A33.
  12. ↑ The 2012 Shaw Prize
  13. ↑ Dresselhaus, Graybiel, Luu receive 2012 Kavli Prizes - MIT News Office
  14. ↑ The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2012 29 May 2012
  15. ↑ Kavli Prize 2012
  16. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Gruppe 2: Astronomi, fysikk og geofysikk" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
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