Dame Carole Jordan, (born 19 July 1941) is a British

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, astrophysicist,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and academic. Currently, she is Professor Emeritus of

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and Emeritus Fellow at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

. From 1994 to 1996, she was President of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

; she was the first woman to hold this appointment. She won the

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...

in 2005; she was only the third female recipient following

Caroline Herschel Caroline Lucretia Herschel (; 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German born British astronomer, whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigolle ...

in 1828 and

Vera Rubin Vera Florence Cooper Rubin (; July 23, 1928 – December 25, 2016) was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted and observed angular motion of galaxies by studyi ...

in 1996. She was head of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

from 2003 to 2004 and 2005 to 2008, and was one of the first female professors in Astronomy in Britain. She was made a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2006 for services to physics and astronomy.

Education

Carole Jordan was educated at Harrow County Grammar School for Girls and 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 = ...

(BSc 1962; PhD 1965). Her first paper, written while she was still an undergraduate, was on the distortion of lunar craters. Her PhD studies under C. W. Allen opened up a new field in atomic physics and included identification of iron and other lines in the solar extreme ultra-violet

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

and the

ZETA Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

experiment, early ionisation-balance calculations, development of density-diagnostic methods using the iron lines, calculation of relative element abundances and modelling from emission-measure distributions.Account of presentation of Gold medal: Her first paper on coronal research, ''"The Relative Abundance of Silicon Iron and Nickel in the Solar Corona"'' was published in 1965.

Scientific work

Jordan calculated the ionisation balance of elements, including the effects of density-dependent di-electronic recombination, level populations in ions, and combined this with observational results from the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

and stars. As a result of her work on the

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...

ultraviolet spectra the understanding of He-like ions was further developed. This had implications for the development of applications, like

X-ray laser An X-ray laser is a device that uses stimulated emission to generate or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the near X-ray or extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum, that is, usually on the order of several tens of nanometers (nm) wavelength ...

s. The electron density diagnostics, and temperature density diagnostics, when combined with the emission measure analysis developed by her yielded new insights in the

chromosphere A chromosphere ("sphere of color") is the second layer of a star's atmosphere, located above the photosphere and below the solar transition region and corona. The term usually refers to the Sun's chromosphere, but not exclusively. In the Su ...

s of cool stars,

T Tauri Star T Tauri stars (TTS) are a class of variable stars that are less than about ten million years old. This class is named after the prototype, T Tauri, a young star in the Taurus star-forming region. They are found near molecular clouds and iden ...

s, and the

, to name a few. The 1970 solar eclipse allowed her the identification of previously unknown forbidden lines in the Sun. Following the launch of the ''

International Ultraviolet Explorer International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE or Explorer 57, formerly SAS-D), was the first space observatory primarily designed to take ultraviolet (UV) electromagnetic spectrum. The satellite was a collaborative project between NASA, the United K ...

'' satellite in 1978, she turned her attention to

stellar corona A corona ( coronas or coronae) is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere. It consists of plasma. The Sun's corona lies above the chromosphere and extends millions of kilometres into outer space. It is most easily seen during a total solar ...

and

chromospheric A chromosphere ("sphere of color") is the second layer of a star's atmosphere, located above the photosphere and below the solar transition region and corona. The term usually refers to the Sun's chromosphere, but not exclusively. In the S ...

activity. Her knowledge of solar activity enabled her to help develop this new branch of astrophysics and identify many elements in stellar spectra as well. Since about 1980, she has been a key member of nearly every team, in the UK, Europe and the US, concerned with the development and use of instruments for the studies of

ultra-violet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiatio ...

and

x-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

spectra of the Sun and of the stars.

Career

* Research associate, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics,

University of Colorado, Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

, 1966 * Assistant Lecturer, Department of Astronomy, UCL, attached to the Spectroscopy Division of

UKAEA The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...

Culham Laboratory, 1966–69 :During this time, she completed her ionisation-balance calculations and the identification of some

forbidden line In spectroscopy, a forbidden mechanism (forbidden transition or forbidden line) is a spectral line associated with absorption or emission of photons by atomic nuclei, atoms, or molecules which undergo a transition that is not allowed by a particu ...

s and satellite lines. In 1969, she started to devise methods to obtain the structure of the

solar transition region The solar transition region is a region of the Sun's atmosphere between the upper chromosphere and corona. It is important because it is the site of several unrelated but important transitions in the physics of the solar atmosphere: * Below, gra ...

. * Astrophysics Research Unit, Culham Laboratory: ** Post-doctoral research assistant, 1969–71 ** Senior Scientific Officer, 1971–73 ** Principal Scientific Officer, 1973–76 * Wolfson Tutorial Fellow in Natural Science,

, 1976 - *

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

: reader in physics, 1994–96, professor of physics 1996-, head of the

Rudolf Peierls Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, (; ; 5 June 1907 – 19 September 1995) was a German-born British physicist who played a major role in Tube Alloys, Britain's nuclear weapon programme, as well as the subsequent Manhattan Project, the combined Allied ...

Centre for Theoretical Physics, 2003–2008, emeritus professor 2008 -. She has published papers on astrophysical plasma spectroscopy and structure and energy balance in cool star coronae. Dame Jordan has her picture displayed with the National Portrait Gallery as a recognition for her career achievements.

Affiliations

* Royal Astronomical Society: Fellow, 1966; secretary, 1981–90; vice-president, 1990–91 and 1996–97; president, 1994–96. * Member of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

, 1967 * Editor of '' The Observatory'', 1968–73 * Fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

, 1973 * Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, 1990 * Doctor of the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

, 1991 * Member of the

Science and Engineering Research Council The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...

, 1985-90 (Chairman, Solar System Committee, 1983–86; Member, Astronomy, Space and Radio Board, 1979–86; Member, Astronomy and Planetary Science Board, 1986–90) * Member of the

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was one of a number of research councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK. Its head office w ...

, 1994–97

Damehood

Carole Jordan was created a

(DBE) on 17 June 2006.

References

External links

Personal page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Carole 1941 births Living people Women astronomers British women physicists Alumni of University College London Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Female Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Institute of Physics Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Physics Academics of University College London Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Academics of the University of Oxford Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society Fellows of the Royal Society 20th-century British astronomers 21st-century British astronomers 20th-century British women scientists 21st-century British women scientists