Nancy Boggess
American astrophysicist
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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 | |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Michigan |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | The structure of NGC 6822 (1967) |
Early life and education
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
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
- 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
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]