Francesca DeMeo or Francesca E. DeMeo, born in 1984, is an American doctoral astrophysicist, researcher and speaker specializing in the study of celestial bodies in the Solar System, including more particularly asteroids, comets and moons. She is the creator of the modern system of taxonomic classification of asteroids with Schelte J. Bus. With Benoît Carry, she brought a new vision of the main asteroid belt. She pursued entrepreneurial activities alongside astronomy.

Francesca DeMeo
Born1984
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Occupation(s)Planetary science, astronomy NoStove
Known forModern system of classification of asteroids, the Bus-DeMeo taxonomy
Awards2006 Christopher Goetze Prize

2007, 2008 Fulbright Scholar

2018 Harold Clayton Urey Award

Education and career

edit

Francesca DeMeo was born in 1984.[1] . At the age of 18, she pursued in-depth studies of physics and planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge until 2006. She obtained two undergraduate degrees : B.S. in Physics and B.S. in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences[2].

In 2007, she received a M.S. in Planetary Science including small celestial bodies, asteroids, comets, moons, etc.[3]

 
Great Dome, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2007 and 2008 to study of planetary sciences within astronomy and astrophysics as a Fulbright Advanced Student, to pursue a PhD at the Paris Observatory in Meudon on the study of small bodies in the Solar System. In 2009, she received an Eiffel excellence scholarship[4] to support her final year of doctoral studies[5] .

In 2009 she published the Bus-DeMeo asteroid taxonomic classification system[6] . This system has become the reference in the spectral classification of asteroids[7] . She obtained her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2010. The dissertation on small solar bodies was titled: The Compositional Variation of Small Bodies across the Solar System. Her thesis co-supervisors are Maria Antonella Barucci and Richard P. Binzel.[8],[9].

The taxonomy paper from 2009 is one of the most cited papers in all of asteroid science, 672 times as of June 23, 2024[10].

She obtained her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2010. The dissertation on small solar bodies was titled: The Compositional Variation of Small Bodies across the Solar System. Her thesis co-supervisors are Maria Antonella Barucci and Richard P. Binzel.[11],[12] with him, she continued collaborating[2].

Awards

edit
  1. 2006 Christopher Goetze Prize[13]
  2. 2012 Asteroid named DeMeo (8070)[14] .
  3. 2013 Hubble Fellowship[15] .
  4. 2018 Harold Clayton Urey Award issued by Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astroical Society[16]
  5. 2018 The Division of Planetology of the American Astronautical Society awards him the Harold C. Prize. Urey. " in recognition of the broad foundational understanding of the study of solar system bodies using the modern system of asteroid classification that bears her name ."[16] ,[17]

Publication of research

edit

Francesca's papers on planetology in Nature[18] and Icarus[19] about Pluto, Triton, Charon, (52872) Okyhroe, (90482) Orcus, (379) Huenna and Small Solar System body.[20],[21].

Other activities

edit

In 2011, Francesca DeMeo served as co-founder, CIO of Cambridge Select Inc. The same year, she served as a volunteer member of the board of directors of the Governor's Academy and remained there until 2021[22].


References

edit
  1. ^ "Francesca Demeo Email & Phone Number | Cambridge Select - ContactOut". contactout.com. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  2. ^ a b "Francesca DeMeo" (PDF). www.mit.edu. 2018.
  3. ^ "Fulbright-France Quarterly Newsletter - PDF Téléchargement Gratuit". docplayer.fr. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  4. ^ "Le programme de bourses France Excellence Eiffel". Campus France (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  5. ^ "Dr. Francesca DeMeo". www.mit.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  6. ^ "BUS-DEMEO ASTEROID TAXONOMY V1.0 | NASA Open Data Portal". NASA. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  7. ^ Michel, Patrick (2023-10-11). À la rencontre des astéroïdes: Les missions spatiales et la défense de la planète (in French). Odile Jacob. ISBN 978-2-415-00499-6. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  8. ^ Claude Catala (2011). "Vision d'Avenir" (PDF). Le Magazine de l'Observatoire de Paris (14): 22 Francesca E. DEMEO, thèse de Doctorat de l'Observatoire de Paris, École doctorale Astronomie & Astrophysique d'Île-de-France, soutenue le 16/06/2010, LESIA - Observatoire de Paris : La variation compositionnelle des petits corps à travers le système solaire. / The compositional variation of small bodies accross the solar system.
  9. ^ Demeo, Francesca E. (2010). "The compositional variation of small bodies accross the solar system". ui.adsabs.harvard.edu. Bibcode:2010PhDT.......269D.
  10. ^ DeMeo, Francesca E.; Binzel, Richard P.; Slivan, Stephen M.; Bus, Schelte J. (2009-07-01). "An extension of the Bus asteroid taxonomy into the near-infrared". Icarus. 202 (1): 160–180. Bibcode:2009Icar..202..160D. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.02.005. ISSN 0019-1035.
  11. ^ Claude Catala (2011). "Vision d'Avenir" (PDF). Le Magazine de l'Observatoire de Paris (14): 22 Francesca E. DEMEO, thèse de Doctorat de l'Observatoire de Paris, École doctorale Astronomie & Astrophysique d'Île-de-France, soutenue le 16/06/2010, LESIA - Observatoire de Paris : La variation compositionnelle des petits corps à travers le système solaire. / The compositional variation of small bodies accross the solar system.
  12. ^ Demeo, Francesca E. (2010). "The compositional variation of small bodies accross the solar system". ui.adsabs.harvard.edu. Bibcode:2010PhDT.......269D.
  13. ^ Maria T. Zuber (2006). "MIT Reports to the President 2005–2006". Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences: At the 2006 Commencement, the Goetze Prize was awarded to graduating seniors Francesca DeMeo, Marion Dumas, and Solomon Hsiang. Ms. DeMeo was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
  14. ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  15. ^ Cheryl Gundy (April 9, 2013). "NASA and STScI Select 17 Hubble Fellows for 2013". NASA Hubblesite.
  16. ^ a b Division of the American Astronomical Society. "Francesca E. DeMeo – 2018 Harold C. Urey Prize". AAS.org.
  17. ^ Dick, Steven J. (2019-03-21). Classifying the Cosmos: How We Can Make Sense of the Celestial Landscape. Springer. p. 70. ISBN 978-3-030-10380-4. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  18. ^ Francesca DeMeo (2010–2016). "Natureportfolio". www.nature.com.
  19. ^ Francesca DeMeo (2007–2023). "Research article". www.sciencedirect.com.
  20. ^ "NASA/ADS". ui.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  21. ^ "Dr. Francesca DeMeo". www.mit.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  22. ^ "Governor's, The Archon Magazine Spring 2023 by The Governor's Academy - Issuu". issuu.com. 2023-05-26. p. 21. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
edit