Wikipedia

Nancy Boggess

Nancy Elizabeth Weber Boggess (1925 – 2019) was an astrophysicist known for her work in developing telescopes that were used in space by NASA.

Nancy Boggess
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Scientific career
ThesisThe structure of NGC 6822 (1967)

Early life and education edit

Boggess was born in 1925.[1] She attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts where she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and music. She then earned her master's degree in mathematics from Wellesley College. Boggess completed her education at the University of Michigan with a PhD in astronomy.[2]

Career edit

Boggess went on to join NASA in 1968[3][4] after Nancy Roman heard Boggess speak at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society and offered Boggess a job.[5][6]: 92  Boggess oversaw grant programs at NASA,[6]: 118–122  including serving as a NASA project scientist[7] for the development and launch of Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), which was able to map the entire night sky in the infrared spectrum.[8][6]: 125, 127, 174, 182  From 1983 until 1984 Boggess worked on the coordinating the development of the Spitzer Space Telescope.[9][10][11] Boggess was the project scientist[12] for the team that developed the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)[13][6]: 200, 205, 234, 255, 269  which earned a Nobel Prize for John C. Mather and George Smoot in Physics in 2006.[14] Under Boggess' guidance, COBE was a combination of multiple instruments that made precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation that was left over from the Big Bang.[15][16]

When Boggess retired, she spent time documenting the migration of birds.[2] Boggess died in 2019.[1]

Selected publications edit

  • Mather, J. C.; Cheng, E. S.; Cottingham, D. A.; Eplee, R. E. Jr.; Fixsen, D. J.; Hewagama, T.; Isaacman, R. B.; Jensen, K. A.; Meyer, S. S.; Noerdlinger, P. D.; Read, S. M.; Rosen, L. P.; Shafer, R. A.; Wright, E. L.; Bennett, C. L.; Boggess, N.W.; Hauser, M. G.; Kelsall, T.; Moseley, S.H. Jr.; Silverberg, R.F.; Smoot, G.F.; Weiss, R.; Wilkinson, D.T. (1994-01-01). "Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum by the COBE FIRAS Instrument". The Astrophysical Journal. 420: 439. Bibcode:1994ApJ...420..439M. doi:10.1086/173574. ISSN 0004-637X.
  • Wright, E. L.; Meyer, S. S.; Bennett, C. L.; Boggess, N. W.; Cheng, E. S.; Hauser, M. G.; Kogut, A.; Lineweaver, C.; Mather, J. C.; Smoot, G. F.; Weiss, R.; Gulkis, S.; Hinshaw, G.; Janssen, M.; Kelsall, T. (1992). "Interpretation of the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropy detected by the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer". The Astrophysical Journal. 396: L13. Bibcode:1992ApJ...396L..13W. doi:10.1086/186506. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 119711693.
  • Boggess, N. W.; Mather, J. C.; Weiss, R.; Bennett, C. L.; Cheng, E. S.; Dwek, E.; Gulkis, S.; Hauser, M. G.; Janssen, M. A.; Kelsall, T.; Meyer, S. S.; Moseley, S. H.; Murdock, T. L.; Shafer, R. A.; Silverberg, R. F. (1992). "The COBE mission - Its design and performance two years after launch". The Astrophysical Journal. 397: 420. Bibcode:1992ApJ...397..420B. doi:10.1086/171797. ISSN 0004-637X.

Awards and honors edit

In 1997 Wheaton College awarded Boggess with an honorary degree.[17] In 2006 Boggess was among the team members who received the Gruber Prize in Cosmology for their work on COBE.[18][19]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  2. ^ a b Masegosa, Josefa. "Nancy Boggess, una astrónoma en la NASA | Información y Actualidad Astronómica". revista.iaa.es. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  3. ^ "Inside Gallery 4". www.hq.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  4. ^ "History of Women in Astronomy: Nancy Boggess". 2008-05-13. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  5. ^ Roman, Nancy Grace (2019-08-18). "Nancy Grace Roman and the Dawn of Space Astronomy". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 57 (1): 1–34. Bibcode:2019ARA&A..57....1R. doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-091918-104446. ISSN 0066-4146.
  6. ^ a b c d Boslough, John; Mather, John (2008-10-20). The Very First Light: The True Inside Story of the Scientific Journey Back to the Dawn of the Universe. Basic Books. pp. 118–122. ISBN 978-0-7867-2647-9.
  7. ^ "Space discoveries". The Albuquerque Tribune. 1983-11-10. p. 47. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  8. ^ "Boggess and Low with jet". Niels Bohr Library & Archives. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  9. ^ Werner, Michael; Eisenhardt, Peter (2019-06-25). More Things in the Heavens: How Infrared Astronomy Is Expanding Our View of the Universe. Princeton University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-691-19196-6.
  10. ^ Rieke, George Henry (2006-05-11). The Last of the Great Observatories: Spitzer and the Era of Faster, Better, Cheaper at NASA. University of Arizona Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8165-2558-4.
  11. ^ Werner, Michael (2005). "A Short and Personal History of the Spitzer Space Telescope". arXiv:astro-ph/0503624.
  12. ^ "Rocket launch ends era, begins search for origin of universe". The Baltimore Sun. 1989-11-19. p. 22. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  13. ^ "Boggess Performs Tests with COBE". Niels Bohr Library & Archives. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  14. ^ Brink, Lars (2014-06-02). Nobel Lectures In Physics (2006-2010). World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4612-70-8.
  15. ^ Kragh, Helge; Longair, Malcolm (2019-03-06). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Modern Cosmology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-254997-6.
  16. ^ Sehlstedt, Albert (1993-03-28). "Looking in the sky for evidence of the Big Bang". The Baltimore Sun. p. 36. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  17. ^ Filippo, Thomas San (2011-03-07). "Nancy Weber Boggess, Honorary Degree Recipient". College History. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  18. ^ Wanjek, Christopher (October 4, 2006). "NASA - Spunky Satellite Yields Nobel Prize for NASA Scientist". www3.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  19. ^ "John Mather & the COBE Team | Gruber Foundation". gruber.yale.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
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