María Luisa Aguilar Hurtado (20 June 1938 – 29 October 2015), was the first professional astronomer of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. She studied at the Institute of Mathematics and Physics of the

National University of San Marcos The National University of San Marcos (, UNMSM) is a public university, public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established (Privilege (legal ethics), privilege by Charles V, ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru. She graduated as an astronomer from the

National University of La Plata The National University of La Plata (, UNLP) is a national public research university located in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It has over 90,000 regular students, 10,000 teaching staff, 17 departments and 10 ...

, Argentina. In 1981, motivated to develop astronomy at a professional level, she founded and served as director of the "Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar", nowadays called "Permanent Astronomy and Space Sciences Seminar" of the

Biography

She was born in

Jauja Jauja (Shawsha Wanka Quechua: , or , formerly in Spanish , with pronunciation of "x" as "sh") is a city and capital of Jauja Province in Peru. It is situated in the fertile Mantaro Valley, to the northwest of Huancayo (the capital of Junín ...

, the city where she lived during her first three years. Her primary and secondary studies were carried out in Lima, in the Elvira García y García Mayor School Unit. In 1958 she entered the School of Mathematics of the National University of San Marcos. She traveled to Argentina to study astronomy at the Astronomy and Geophysics Observatory of the National University of La Plata; there was no such professional specialty in Peru during that time. She specialized in

astronomical spectroscopy Astronomical spectroscopy is the study of astronomy using the techniques of spectroscopy to measure the electromagnetic spectrum, spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including Visible light astronomy, visible light, Ultraviolet astronomy, ultr ...

stellar atmosphere The stellar atmosphere is the outer region of the volume of a star, lying above the stellar core, radiation zone and convection zone. Overview The stellar atmosphere is divided into several regions of distinct character: * The photosphere, whi ...

s, and

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

s. In 1969, she returned to Peru and began teaching at the National University of Engineering and at the National University of San Marcos. In those first years, she created the "Astronomical Fridays", a space for the dissemination of astronomy that has remained until today, becoming the oldest series of uninterrupted talks and conferences in the history of Peru. In 1981, Maria Aguilar founded the Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar, renamed in 2001 as the Permanent Astronomy and Space Sciences Seminar - SPACE. In 1982 she was recognized as a Member of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

, being part of commission 46 Astronomy Education and Development, and commission C1 WG Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE). In January 1984, she promoted and managed the "San Marcos - International Astronomical Union agreement", enabling the first Visiting Lecturer Program of the International Astronomical Union in Peru. In 1985, she coordinated the arrival of doctors

José Luis Sérsic José Luis Sérsic (6 May 1933 – 19 July 1993) was an Argentine astronomer who studied the morphology of galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The wo ...

, Argentine, and specialist in galaxies, Josip Kleczek, Czech, Sun scholar, and Jorge Sahade, first Latin American president of the International Astronomical Union. She was an enthusiastic collaborator in science and astronomy topics in Sunday's supplement of the Peruvian newspaper " El Comercio" between 1999 and 2000. As part of the global activities for the celebrations of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, she was designated as "Single Point of Contact" between Peru and the International Astronomical Union, promoting and participating in a series of activities of education and outreach in Peru for that year, such as the "Astronomical Fridays", "Itinerant Telescope", the "Galileo Teacher Training Program" and " Galileo Mobile", among others. Aguilar was the promoter of the San Marcos Astronomical Observatory for Education and Tourism Project in Maranganí, Cusco, which was inaugurated after her death in 2016. In her last years, she was the host of the program "Culture, Science and Technology" on Radio Cielo, and "Science and Culture", on the program "Faces of Culture", on Juan 19 TV. Maria Aguilar was portrayed as one of the main characters of the theater play "Our great adventure in science" directed by Rocio Lino and written by Paola Vicente Chocano.

Honors and affiliations

* Past Member of Division C Education, Outreach and Heritage, IAU (until 2015) * Past Member of Commission C1 Astronomy Education and Development, IAU (2015) * Past Member of Commission 46 Astronomy Education & Development, IAU (until 2015) * Past Member of Commission C1 WG Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE), IAU (2015) * Past Member of Division XII Union-Wide Activities, IAU (until 2012) * Medal of Honor "José Antonio Encinas", awarded by the Magisterial Derrama (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar, María Luisa Peruvian scientists 20th-century women scientists National University of San Marcos alumni 1938 births Academic staff of the National University of San Marcos National University of La Plata alumni Living people