Julianne Dalcanton (born 1968) is an American

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 ...

, professor of astronomy, researcher and comet discoverer. Since September 2021 she is the director of the

Simons Foundation The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...

Center for Computational Astrophysics.

Career

Julianne Dalcanton joined the Simons Foundation in September 2021 as Director of the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in NYC. Prior to this she was Professor of Astronomy,

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, Chair of the Astronomy Department, and researcher for

Sloan Digital Sky Survey The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-spectral imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project began in 2000 a ...

. Her main work is on the area of galaxy formation and evolution. She led the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST) and is leading the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) programs on the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

. She became known worldwide by her discovery of the

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

C/1999 F2 Dalcanton. She is also a contributor to the physics

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

Cosmic Variance The term ''cosmic variance'' is the statistical uncertainty inherent in observations of the universe at extreme distances. It has three different but closely related meanings: * It is sometimes used, incorrectly, to mean sample variance – the d ...

Awards and honors

In 2018, Professor Dalcanton was awarded the

Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize The Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize is awarded every other year by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of an outstanding research contribution to astronomy or astrophysics of an exceptionally creative or innovative character. The prize is na ...

by the

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 ...

in recognition of her work in Astronomy and "contributions that are of an exceptionally creative or innovative character and that have played a seminal role in furthering our understanding of the universe." Asteroid 148384 Dalcanton, discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in 2000, was named in her honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 6 April 2012 ().

Journal articles

* *

References

External links

* https://www.simonsfoundation.org/people/julianne-dalcanton/
University of Washington Profile

Video discussion/conversation
with Dalcanton and

Jennifer Ouellette Jennifer Ouellette (born May 17, 1964) is a science writer based in Los Angeles, California. Life and career Ouellette is the former director of the Science & Entertainment Exchange, an initiative of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) de ...

Bloggingheads.tv Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast on ...

The ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey (ANGST)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalcanton, Julianne 1968 births Living people American women astronomers University of Washington faculty Scientists from Pittsburgh