Jacqueline Mitton (née Pardoe, born 1948) is a British
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 ...
, writer, and media consultant who lives and works in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, UK. She studied 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 ...
and
Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall. In 2008, following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, it was renamed Murray Edwar ...
. She has served as Public Relations Officer for the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
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. From 1987 to 1993, she was the editor of the
Journal of the British Astronomical Association
The ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astronomy published by the British Astronomical Association since October 1890. It is currently edited by Philip Jennings and publishes original re ...
.
She has authored, co-authored, or contributed to many books.
Mitton's career has focused on bringing astronomy to the public - both adults and children - as a writer. She received a Bachelor of Arts at Oxford University in 1969 and a PhD at Cambridge University in 1975. Her 1998 picture book ''Zoo in the Sky'' introduces children to astronomy through an explanation of the stars and animal constellations.
Her 2003 book ''Once Upon a Starry Night'' introduces children to myths and facts about the solar system.
She was a
county councillor
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
for Cambridgeshire from 1989 to 1993.
Asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
4027 Mitton
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
is named after her and her husband
Simon Mitton
Simon Mitton (born 18 December 1946) is a British astronomer and writer. He is based at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He has written numerous astronomical works. The most well known of these is his biography of fellow Cambridge astronomer Fred ...
.
Books
(not a complete list)
* ''Astronomy: an introduction'' (1978)
* ''Key definitions in astronomy'' (1980)
* ''Discovering Astronomy'' (1983), with
Simon Mitton
Simon Mitton (born 18 December 1946) is a British astronomer and writer. He is based at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He has written numerous astronomical works. The most well known of these is his biography of fellow Cambridge astronomer Fred ...
* ''A Visitor's Introduction to the Antarctic and its Environment'' (1984), with
Nigel Bonner
William Nigel Bonner (15 February 1928 – 27 August 1994) was a British zoologist, Antarctic marine mammal specialist, author and ecologist. The topics of his books and scientific publications included marine animals, reindeer and the ecology of ...
* ''Invitation to Astronomy'' (1986), with Simon Mitton
* ''Gems of Hubble'' (1996), with
Stephen P. Maran
* ''Discovering the Planets'' (1991)
* ''The Young Oxford book of Astronomy'' (1994), with Simon Mitton
* ''The Great Comet Crash: The Collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter'' (1995), co-edited with John Spencer
* ''Galileo: scientist and star gazer'' (1997)
* ''Aliens'' (1998)
* ''The Marshall children's guide to astronomy'' (1998), with Simon Mitton
* ''Zoo in the Sky: a book of animal constellations'' (1998)
* ''Kingdom of the sun: a book of the planets'' (2001)
* "Working with the media: the Royal Astronomical Society experience", in ''Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy II'' (2001), ed.
André Heck
* ''Stars and planets'' (2002)
* ''Once Upon a Starry Night: Heroes and Gods of the Constellations'' (2003), republished as ''The Planet Gods''
* ''Oxford Astronomy'' (2003), with Simon Mitton
* ''Zodiac: celestial circle of the sun'' (2004)
* ''Cambridge illustrated dictionary of astronomy'' (2007)
* ''Moon'' (2009)
* ''I see the moon'' (2010)
* ''Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Unveiled'' (2010), with
Ralph Lorenz
Ralph D. Lorenz is a planetary scientist and engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. whose research focuses on understanding surfaces, atmospheres, and their interactions on planetary bodies, especially Titan, Venus, Mars, and Earth. He ...
* ''Space'' (2016)
* ''From dust to life : the origin and evolution of our solar system'' (2017), with
John Chambers
* ''The Penguin Dictionary of Astronomy'' (various editions)
References
External links
New Scientist review of Titan UnveiledNew Scientist review of Invitation to AstronomyAutobiographical piece
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitton, Jacqueline
20th-century British astronomers
Living people
British women scientists
Women astronomers
Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
Alumni of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
20th-century British non-fiction writers
20th-century British women writers
21st-century British non-fiction writers
21st-century British women writers
British women non-fiction writers
British science writers
Women science writers
21st-century British astronomers
1948 births