Denise Stephens
American astronomer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Denise C. Nuttall Stephens (born 1973 or 1974)[1] is an associate professor of astronomy in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Brigham Young University.[2]
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New Mexico State University (PhD)
Denise C. Nuttall Stephens | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1973 or 1974 (age 51–52)[1] |
| Occupation | associate professor |
| Children | 7 |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Brigham Young University (BS) New Mexico State University (PhD) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Astronomy |
| Main interests | Brown dwarfs |
Education and research experience
Stephens graduated from Brigham Young University in 1996 as an undergraduate student with a degree in physics. She received her Master's and Ph.D. in Astronomy from New Mexico State University. She completed her a postgraduate program at the Space Telescope Science Institute and at Johns Hopkins University. She joined the faculty of BYU in 2007.[3] She studies the atmosphere of brown dwarfs, looks for and classifies binary systems, studies TNOs, and uses telescopes both on ground and in space to collect infrared data.[2]
In 2017, she and a team of undergraduates at BYU published their discovery of a new planet called KELT-16b, which was made as part of the KELT project.[4] Her team also co-discovered the hottest known exoplanet KELT-9b the same year.[5]
Community involvement
Stephens is a coordinator of the BYU Astronomical Society.[6] She also runs an annual public event called Astrofest which introduces physics and astronomy to kids in a fun way.[7] She is the team captain of an on-campus flag football team which is the only women's intramural faculty team at BYU.[1]
Personal life
Denise Stephens is married and is a mother to seven children.[1]