Anne-Marie Lagrange, born in the
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...
region of France, is a French
astrophysicist. Lagrange's work focuses on the research and study of
extrasolar planetary systems. Lagrange is the holder of numerous scientific awards and honorary decorations, including Knight of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
(the highest French order of merit) and is a member of the
French Academy of Sciences since 2013.
Early life and education
Anne-Marie Lagrange was born on 12 March 1962 in the Rhône-Alpes region where her father was employed at the French electric utility company,
Électricité de France S.A. and a stay-at-home mother. When she was 5 years old, her father was transferred to
Ain
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...
and the family moved to
Ceyzérieu
Ceyzérieu () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ain department
The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France.
The communes cooperate in the follo ...
where Lagrange went to primary school. She attended college in
Culoz
Culoz ( or ) is a former commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. On 1 January 2023, it was merged into the new commune of Culoz-Béon.
Geography
The town, which is situated on the right bank of the River ...
, at the
Lycée du Bugey in Belley. In high school, she was passionate about physics and mathematics and decided to study higher. On the advice of her teacher and the local Rotary Club, she went to
Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles (
CPGE) after obtaining her
Baccalauréat in 1979. She discovered the professions of scientific research and thus found her vocation.
In 1982, she joined the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
and did her military service for the first year as section chief in the 8th Signal Regiment. She discovered astrophysics during an optional course given by
Jean Audouze
Jean Audouze () is a French astrophysicist. He is a research director at CNRS and teaches at the Paris Institute of Political Science "Sciences Po". From 1993 to 1996 he was president of the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in La Villette, ...
and found this discipline fascinating—connecting basic sciences with an exploratory side. At school, she gave birth to her first child. She graduated from
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
in 1985. The following year, she obtained a diploma of in-depth studies (DEA) in astrophysics at
Paris Diderot University
Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...
. Then, she prepared a thesis at the
Institut d'astrophysique de Paris The Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (translated: Paris Institute of Astrophysics) is a research institute in Paris, France. The Institute is part of the Sorbonne University and is associated with the CNRS Centre national de la recherche scientifi ...
under the supervision of
Alfred Vidal-Madjar and obtained her doctorate in 1989.
Career
After her studies, Anne-Marie Lagrange did a year of postdoctoral work at the
European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Germany from 1989 to 1990. During a mission to Chile, she met
Pierre Léna who developed adaptive optics and understands its full potential in the research and study of exoplanets. In 1990, she joined the
Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Grenoble (LAOG) under the direction of
Alain Omont and formed a small research group on extrasolar planetary systems. In 1994, she obtained her qualification to direct research while she has already been, since 1990, research fellow at the CNRS. From 1997 to 2002, she was the scientific manager of the NAOS instrument, the first adaptive optics installed on the
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m acro ...
(VLT) of the
European Southern Observatory. In 2002–2003, she conducted the pre-study of the
Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research
Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (VLT-SPHERE) is an adaptive optics system and coronagraphic facility at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). It provides direct imaging as well as spectroscopic and polarimetric characterization ...
(SPHERE instrument), successor to NAOS, dedicated to the research and characterization of exoplanets.
From 1999 to 2003, she was a part-time project manager at the
Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (INSU) and the
Department of Universe Sciences at the
French National Centre for Scientific Research
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...
, while continuing her research at
LAOG. In 2000, she became the research director at CNRS. From 2004 to 2006, she was deputy director at INSU and CNRS, responsible for the Astronomy and Astrophysics division. From 2007, she was again a researcher at
LAOG, which in 2011 became the
Grenoble Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics (
IPAG).
In addition to her research, she was a member of several scientific program committees of the
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m acro ...
(VLT), the
European Southern Observatory (ESO), the
European Space Agency (ESA) and the CNRS. She was also a member of several boards of directors such as the
Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA),
THEMIS
In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; grc, ΘÎμις, Themis, justice, law, custom) is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, fai ...
,
EISCAT
EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) operates three incoherent scatter radar systems in Northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. The facilities are used to study the interaction between the Sun and the Earth as revealed by dist ...
and the
Institut d'astrophysique de Paris The Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (translated: Paris Institute of Astrophysics) is a research institute in Paris, France. The Institute is part of the Sorbonne University and is associated with the CNRS Centre national de la recherche scientifi ...
, she chaired the High Scientific Council of the Paris Observatory (2014-2017).
She was made a knight of the
National Order of the Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
on April 2, 2010, and was appointed to the rank of officer of the
Order of Merit on November 20, 2015. She was elected member of the
Academy of Sciences
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unit ...
on December 10, 2013. She was appointed to the
Strategic Research Council on February 3, 2014.
Work
From the 1990s, she began to search for
exoplanets using direct imaging using novel
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of incoming wavefront distortions by deforming a mirror in order to compensate for the distortion. It is used in astronomical tele ...
. In the 2000s, her research became focused on the study of giant planets around young stars. In the 2000s, she specifically looked for giant planets around young stars. Thus, in 2005, she made the first direct observation of an exoplanet around a
brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs (also called failed stars) are substellar objects that are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of ordinary hydrogen ( 1H) into helium in their cores, unlike a main-sequence star. Instead, they have a mass between the most ...
using deep adaptive-optics. In this research, she also uses the radial velocity method and extends this technique to other types of stars. In addition, she studies the impact of stellar activity on the detectability of planets.
Discovery of exoplanet β Pictoris b
Lagrange has devoted much of her career to the analysis of the star
Beta Pictoris in the constellation
Pictor
Pictor is a constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, located between the star Canopus and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its name is Latin for painter, and is an abbreviation of the older name Equuleus Pictoris (the "painter's easel ...
. During her thesis in the 1980s, she studied the disc of debris that had just been discovered around this star. Several elements indicated the presence of a massive planet—
β Pictoris b—but the scientific community remained skeptical.
However, in the 2000s, Lagrange made several observations of the debris disc using
adaptive optics
Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of incoming wavefront distortions by deforming a mirror in order to compensate for the distortion. It is used in astronomical tele ...
coupled with
direct imaging
Any planet is an extremely faint light source compared to its parent star. For example, a star like the Sun is about a billion times as bright as the reflected light from any of the planets orbiting it. In addition to the intrinsic difficulty ...
using a near-infrared spectrometer mounted on the
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m acro ...
(VLT) of the
European Southern Observatory (ESO). On November 18, 2008, after processing the data taken in 2003 using reference star differential imaging and modern image processing tools, Lagrange discovered the exoplanet
Beta Pictoris b
Beta Pictoris b (abbreviated as β Pic b) is an exoplanet orbiting the young debris disk A-type main sequence star Beta Pictoris located approximately 63 light-years (19.4 parsecs, or km) away from Earth in the constellation of Pictor. It has ...
orbiting around the star, confirming her earlier predictions.
Giant planet β Pictoris c
In 2019, Lagrange and a worldwide team announced the discovery of the giant planet
Beta Pictoris c that was equivalent to 9 Jovian masses. Lagrange's team determined that the exoplanet is 23-million-years old, 63.4 light years away, and completes its orbit in approximately 1,200 days. This exoplanet was found using the
radial velocity method
Doppler spectroscopy (also known as the radial-velocity method, or colloquially, the wobble method) is an indirect method for finding extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs from radial-velocity measurements via observation of Doppler shifts in t ...
. The researchers analyzed 10 years of data. The teams were from Lagrange's laboratory at
CNRS/Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur and from other French laboratories (
Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique,
Observatoire de Paris,
Sorbonne Université,
Université de Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
,
Institut d'astrophysique de Paris The Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (translated: Paris Institute of Astrophysics) is a research institute in Paris, France. The Institute is part of the Sorbonne University and is associated with the CNRS Centre national de la recherche scientifi ...
(
Sorbonne Université)) to researchers from the
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, MPIA) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG). It is located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near the top of the Königstuhl, adjacent to the ...
, the
South African Astronomical Observatory
South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is the national centre for optical and infrared astronomy in South Africa. It was established in 1972. The observatory is run by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The facility's funct ...
, the
University of Warwick
, mottoeng = Mind moves matter
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £7.0 million (2021)
, budget = £698.2 million (2020â ...
,
Leiden Observatory
Leiden Observatory ( nl, Sterrewacht Leiden) is an astronomical institute of Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Established in 1633 to house the quadrant of Rudolph Snellius, it is the oldest operating university observatory in the world, wit ...
,
European Southern Observatory,
Universidad de Chile
The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843. , and
Universidad de Valparaiso. This new discovery could help scientists better understand the formation of planetary systems and their evolution in the early stages.
Prizes
Lagrange has received a number of prizes during her academic career including:
*
CNRS Bronze medal (1994)
* Prix digital de la
Société Française d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique (1997)
* Deslandres prize from the
French Academy of Sciences (2003)
* Medal from the
Joseph Fourier University
Joseph Fourier University (UJF, french: Université Joseph Fourier, also known as Grenoble I) was a French university situated in the city of Grenoble and focused on the fields of sciences, technologies and health. It is now part of the Universit ...
(2004)
* Prix de la Fondation Cino del Duca (2005)
* Prix du rayonnement français de l'Association Réalités et Relations Internationales (2007)
* Prix Dargelos de
l'École polytechnique (2009)
* Knight of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
(2010)
*
Irène Joliot-Curie Prize
The Irène Joliot-Curie Prize is a French prize for women in science and technology, founded in 2001. It is awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Airbus Group corporate foundation, the French Academy of Scien ...
, female scientist of the year (2011)
* Member of the
French Academy of Sciences (2013)
* ''Trophée des femmes en or'', catégories Innovation et Trophée du public (2013)
* The
National Order of Merit (France) (2015)
* ''Prix Jean-Ricard'' de la
Société française de physique
The Société Française de Physique (SFP), or the French Physical Society, is the main professional society of French physicists. It was founded in 1873 by Charles Joseph d'Almeida.
History
The French Physical Society is a state-approved non-p ...
(2017)
* Une école primaire de Ceyzérieu, dans l'
Ain
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...
est baptisée en son honneur (2018)
Publications
Lagrange is the author of numerous scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and of several books.
* Observer le ciel de nuit, Paris, Nathan, coll. "Carnet du jeune Robinson", 1998 (, notice BnF no FRBNF37026346).
* Fascicule d'astronomie pour les jeunes, Nathan, 1999.
* Les grands observatoires du monde (avec Serge Brunier), Paris, Éditions Bordas, 2002, 240 p. (, notice BnF no FRBNF38967669).
* L'observation en astronomie (avec Pierre Léna et Hervé Dole), Paris, Éditions Ellipses, 2009, 207 p. (, notice BnF no FRBNF41353630).
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagrange, Anne-Marie
French astrophysicists
Women astrophysicists
Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
1962 births
Living people
20th-century French women scientists
20th-century French physicists
21st-century French women scientists
21st-century French physicists
People from Ain
Women planetary scientists
Planetary scientists