Barbara Jones is an infrared astronomer. She is a

professor emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

Education and career

In the early 1970s, Jones worked with David Aitken at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in the Physics and Astronomy Department, formed in 1972 from the merger of two separate departments. She completed her Ph.D. there in 1977, under the supervision of Benjamin Michael Zuckerman, and was affiliated with the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

before joining the University of California, San Diego in 1980.

Research

Jones's early work included infrared astronomy of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

, of planetary nebulae, and of the Galactic Center. Her dissertation was ''Infrared spectral observations of the galactic centre and other celestial objects''. The research from later in her career included the development of a mid-infrared

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the ...

for the

W. M. Keck Observatory The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have aperture primary mirrors, and when comp ...

, and its use to observe the Einstein Cross, a gravitationally lensed

quasar A quasar is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a m ...

Recognition

Jones was elected as a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of American Physic ...

(APS) in 1994, after a nomination from the APS Division of Astrophysics, "for pioneering development of state-of-the-art infrared instrumentation, the design of the next generation of large telescopes, and their use to make forefront observations of infrared sources".

Selected publications

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Barbara Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American astronomers American women astronomers British astronomers British women astronomers Alumni of University College London University of California, San Diego faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society