Imke de Pater is a Dutch astronomer working at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. She is known for her research on the large planets and led the team using the

Keck Telescope 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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entit ...

to image the 1994 impact of the comet

Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 ( formally designated D/1993 F2) broke apart in July 1992 and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. This generated a l ...

with Jupiter.

Education and career

De Pater was introduced to astronomy in high school when a family friend gave her an astronomy textbook and introduced her to someone in Utrecht so she could learn about the field. She earned her Ph.D. from

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

(1980) while working on radio emissions from Jupiter. de Pater is a professor of astronomy, earth and planetary science from the University of California, Berkeley, and served as the chair of the Astronomy Department. In 2015 year, De Pater was named a fellow of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

who cited her for:

Research

De Pater's research centers on observations of the large planets and their rings and satellites (

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 ...

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

, Titan, and

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather ...

) 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 ...

and radio observations. When the

collided with Jupiter in 1994, she led the campaign to observe the impact using the Keck Telescope and the animations of the impact of the comet are readily available to the general public. Her research on the rearrangement of the rings of Uranus indicated they are dynamic feature of the planet and she revealed the presence of new dust belts surrounding Uranus. ESO_-_Uranus_(by)

Selected publications

* * * * * * * *

Awards and honors

* C.J. Kok Jury award,

Universiteit Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

(1980) * John Howard Dellinger Gold Medal,

International Union of Radio Science The International Union of Radio Science (abbreviated ''URSI'', after its French name, french: link=no, Union radio-scientifique internationale) is one of 26 international scientific unions affiliated to the International Council for Science ( ...

(USRI) (1984) * Sloan Fellowship (1985) * Chambliss Award for Writing for ''Planetary Astrophysics'',

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

(2007) * Fellow,

(2015) * Oort lecture, Jan Hendrik Oort Foundation and Leiden Observatory (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Pater, Imke Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Leiden University alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Women space scientists Planetary scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people