Andrea M. Ghez

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Andrea Mia Ghez (born June 16, 1965) is an American astrophysicist, Nobel laureate, and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Lauren B. Leichtman & Arthur E. Levine chair in Astrophysics, at the University of California, Los Angeles.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> Her research focuses on the center of the Milky Way galaxy.<ref name="discover">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2020, she became the fourth woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, sharing one half of the prize with Reinhard Genzel (the other half being awarded to Roger Penrose).<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> The Nobel Prize was awarded to Ghez and Genzel for their discovery of a supermassive compact object, now generally recognized to be a black hole, in the Milky Way's Galactic Center.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NYT-20201006">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Ghez was born in New York City.<ref name=":3" /> She is the daughter of Susanne (née Gayton) and Gilbert Ghez.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Her father, of Jewish heritage, was born in Rome, Italy, to a family originally from Tunisia and Frankfurt, Germany.<ref name="gilbert_ghez">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Chi spregia il giorno delle piccole cose? mevakshederekh.info</ref> Her mother was from an Irish Catholic family from North Attleborough, Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1969, her father completed his Ph.D. at Columbia University and accepted a position at the University of Chicago, where as the child of a faculty member Ghez was able to attend the Laboratory School.<ref name="gilbert_ghez" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Apollo program Moon landings inspired Ghez to aspire to be the first female astronaut, and her mother encouraged that goal by purchasing a telescope.<ref name="Science hero">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> Her most influential female role model was her high school chemistry teacher.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She began college by majoring in mathematics, then changed to physics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She received a BS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987.<ref name=":5" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> While there, she was a member of the fraternity of St. Anthony Hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":6">Dangremond, Sam (2022). "Reaching for the Stars" (PDF). The Review. St. Anthony Hall (Spring): 19.</ref> She received a PhD under the direction of Gerry Neugebauer at the California Institute of Technology in 1992.<ref name="thesis-ghez-1993">Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Career

Ghez's research employs high spatial resolution imaging techniques, such as the adaptive optics system at the Keck telescopes,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to study star-forming regions and the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way known as Sagittarius A*.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She uses the kinematics of stars near the center of the Milky Way as a probe to investigate this region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The high resolution of the Keck telescopes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> gave a significant improvement over the first major study of galactic center kinematics by Reinhard Genzel's group.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2004, Ghez was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2012, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Ghez has appeared in many television documentaries produced by networks such as the BBC, Discovery Channel, and The History Channel. In 2006 she was in an episode of the PBS series Nova.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was identified as a Science Hero by The My Hero Project.<ref name="Science hero" /> In 2000, Discover magazine listed Ghez as one of 20 promising young American scientists in their respective fields.<ref name="discover" />

Black hole at the Galactic Center (Sgr A*)

Template:Main By imaging the Galactic Center at infrared wavelengths, Ghez and her colleagues have been able to peer through heavy dust that blocks visible light, to reveal images of the center of the Milky Way. Thanks to the 10-meter aperture of the W.M. Keck Telescope and the use of adaptive optics to correct for the turbulence of the atmosphere, these images of the Galactic Center are at very high spatial resolution and have made it possible to follow the orbits of stars around the black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). The partial orbits of many stars orbiting the black hole at the Galactic Center have been observed. One of the stars, S2, has made a complete elliptical orbit since detailed observations began in 1995. Several decades more will be required to document the orbits of some of these stars completely. These measurements may provide a test of the theory of general relativity. In October 2012, a second star, S0-102, was identified by her team at UCLA, orbiting the Galactic Center.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Using Kepler's third law, Ghez's team used the orbital motion to show that the mass of Sgr A* is 4.1±0.6 million solar masses.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Because the Galactic Center where Sgr A* is located, is one hundred times closer than M31 where the next nearest supermassive black hole (M31*) is,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> it is one of the best demonstrated cases for a supermassive black hole.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2020, Ghez shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Roger Penrose and Reinhard Genzel, for their discoveries relating to black holes.<ref name=":1"/> Ghez and Genzel were awarded one half of the prize for their discovery that a supermassive black hole most likely governs the orbits of stars at the center of the Milky Way.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ghez was the fourth woman to win the physics Nobel since its inception, being preceded by Marie Curie (1903), Maria Goeppert Mayer (1963), and Donna Strickland (2018).<ref name=":4" />

Awards

Selected publications

Articles

Books

Personal life

Andrea is married to Tom LaTourrette<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and has two sons.<ref name="TAM on Steam">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ghez is an active swimmer in the UCLA Masters Swim Club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

References

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