Planetary scientist Michele Dougherty made first female UK astronomer royal | Astronomy

A planetary scientist whose research revealed the possibility of an extraterrestrial life on one of the moons of Saturn was made the first woman royal astronomer.

Professor Michele Dougherty, a first physicist of the space who was a researcher for the mission of NASA Cassini, received the honorary title of 350 years. In 2021, Catherine Heymans, professor of astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, became the first royal astronomer woman for Scotland, a position created in 1834.

As an acquisitioner on two major space missions, Dougherty played a role in major discoveries in the solar system, including the revelation that water vapor jets draw from one of the moons of Saturn, Enlade, which means that it can be able to support life.

Dougherty said that she was “absolutely delighted” of her meeting. She added: “As a child, I never thought that I would end up working on the missions and the science of planetary spaces, so I cannot really believe that I really occupy this position. In this role, I can’t wait to engage the general public in the passion for astronomy, and the importance that she and her results are for our daily life.”

The role of the royal astronomer was created in 1675, in order to discover how to determine longitude at sea when it is out of sight of the earth. The outgoing royal astronomer, Martin Rees, retires from the role.

Dougherty told BBC Radio 4’s Today Program on Wednesday: “I always wanted to make sure that if I am never selected for a role, it is because of what I do, not because I am feminine. Especially for young girls, see someone who looks like them in a role like that. The things I would like to do.

She will occupy the role in parallel with her current positions as an executive president of the science and technology facilities Council, elected president of the Institute of Physics and professor of space physics at the Imperial College of London.

She said that she feared for the future of scientific funding. “Things are not unstable at the moment in the world on a range of fronts. This is why it is so important that in the United Kingdom, we are very open to the reason why we do the research we do and why it is so important to the health and well-being of the British economy. ”

Her main role will be to “talk to the people of the science that we do and her impact on people”, she said that she wanted to “enthusiastic and excite people”.

Dougherty, 62, was born in South Africa and has an English and Irish heritage. When she was about 10 years old, her father built a telescope, and Dougherty and her sister helped mix the concrete for her base. “My first vision of Jupiter and his four great moons and Saturn and his rings passed the telescope of my father,” she said today.

Its expertise lies in the design and exploitation of instruments to measure the magnetic field in space on the probes of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

She noticed a “tiny anomaly” in the measurement of the spatial of the cassini of the magnetic field by the field while the probe flew off by Encelade in 2005, suggesting that the moon could have an unexpected atmosphere. She convinced the NASA chiefs to return Cassini to look more closely.

She said to the Times: “I did not sleep during the first two nights in advance. Imagine that if we had not seen anything. No one would have believed what I said again. But we saw it, instead of an atmosphere, it was a plume of water vapor out of the South Pole.”

Enladus is now considered one of the most promising places to look for extraterrestrial life. Dougherty designed instruments to find out more, including a magnetometer which is two years on an eight -year trip aboard the Jupiter Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission. He will scan ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, which is larger than mercury and the only one to have a nucleus that turns, in search of a “world ocean” below the surface.

Dougherty began working on Cassini in 1992 and the probe worked until 2017. She started juice in 2008; He will reach Jupiter in 2031 and operate until 2035.

Professor Dame Angela McLean, the chief scientific advisor of the government, said: “Congratulations warm to Professor Michele Dougherty for his appointment to the distinguished position of the royal astronomer. It is an appropriate recognition of his exceptional work and a lasting commitment in the field of astronomy. ”