Megan Schwamb

Megan Schwamb
Born 1984 (age 33–34)
Huntsville, Alabama
Nationality American
Education University of Pennsylvania
California Institute of Technology
Known for Discovery of (225088) 2007 OR10 and other trans-Neptunian objects, Citizen Science projects, Astrotweeps
Awards Carl Sagan Medal
Scientific career
Fields Planetary astronomy
Website megschwamb.com

Megan "Meg" E. Schwamb (born 1984) is an American astronomer and planetary scientist. As of 2018, she is an Assistant Scientist at the Gemini Observatory's Northern Operations Center in Hilo, Hawai’i. Schwamb discovered and co-discovered several trans-Neptunian objects, and is involved with Citizen science projects such as Planet Four and Planet Hunters.

Biography

In 2006, Schwamb has graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in Physics. She went on to study Astrophysics in the California Institute of Technology, graduated Master of Science in 2008. Schwamb finished her Ph.D. in Planetary Science in 2011, also from the California Institute of Technology. Her thesis was researching "Beyond Sedna: Probing the Distant Solar System",[1] and her advisor was Michael E. Brown.[2]

Between 2010–2013 Schwamb was a post doctoral fellow at Yale University. She worked at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Chinese academy of Taipei in Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2013 until 2016.[3] Since 2016, Schwamb has held the post of Assistant Scientist at the Gemini Observatory.[2] She is the creator and co-founder of Astrotweeps, a Rotation Curation account on astronomy.[4]

Schwamb is involved in citizen science projects. She is a founding science team member for Planet Four, project intended for mapping seasonal fans on the South Pole of Mars.[2] She is also part of the science team leading at Planet Hunters a project in which users analyze data from the NASA Kepler Space Mission while searching for exoplanets.[5]

Awards and honors

In 2017 she received a Carl Sagan Medal for excellence in public communication, for the creation of the Astrotweeps and Planet Four projects.[4] The asteroid 11814 Schwamb is named to honor her.[6]

Research discoveries

She specialized in studying sednoids,[1] and co-discovered several trans-Neptunian objects.[7][8]

List of discovered minor planets

In addition to the confirmed discoveries below, she also participated in the first observations of the unnumbered objects 2007 RT15, 2008 SP266, 2008 ST291, 2012 HG84 and 2012 KU50

(187661) 2007 JG4310 May 2007list [A][B]
(225088) 2007 OR1017 July 2007list [A][B]
(305543) 2008 QY4025 August 2008list [A][B]
(315530) 2008 AP12911 January 2008list [A]
(382004) 2010 RM649 September 2010list [B][C]
(386096) 2007 PR447 August 2007list [A]
(445473) 2010 VZ9811 November 2010list [B][C]
(471196) 2010 PK6614 August 2010list [B][C]
(471210) 2010 VW113 November 2010list [B][C]
(499522) 2010 PL6614 August 2010list [B][C]
(504555) 2008 SO26624 September 2008list [A][B]
(508338) 2015 SO208 October 2010list
Co-discovery made with:
A M. E. Brown
B D. L. Rabinowitz
C S. Tourtellotte

References

  1. 1 2 Megan E. Schwamb (2011). "Beyond Sedna: Probing the Distant Solar System" (PDF). California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Megan E. Schwamb's CV". Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "Megan E. Schwamb's Curriculum Vitae". www.astro.yale.edu. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 "2017 Prize Recipients". Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "About Planet Hunters - Teams". Planethunters.org. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "11814 Schwamb (1981 EW26)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Minor Planet Discoverers (Alphabetically)". Minor Planet Center. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "List Of Transneptunian Objects". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
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