Merav Opher is a professor of
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
known for her work on the
heliosphere
The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstell ...
, the cloud around the sun. In 2021 she was named a William Bentinck-Smith Fellow at the
Harvard Radcliffe Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
.
Education and career
Opher was born in Israel and lived there until 1972 when she moved to Brazil with her parents.
In 1992 and 1998, Opher received her B.S. in Physics and her Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from the
University of São Paulo
The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...
. Following her Ph.D., Opher was a postdoctoral investigator at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
from 1999 until 2001. She was a Caltech Scholar at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
and at
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
from 2001-2004. She was on the faculty of
George Mason University from 2005 until 2010, at which point she moved to
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
, where she was promoted to professor in 2020.
Opher is the director of the SHIELD DRIVE Science Center at Boston University, a project funded by NASA that will study the shape of the heliosphere. She has served on the Space Studies Board at the
National Academy of Sciences which evaluated the progress of space and solar physics.
Research
Her research interests include computational and theoretical
in space and
astrophysics, interaction of the solar system with the
interstellar medium,
solar wind
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sol ...
, and shocks in the lower corona, T-Tauri and Solar-Like Stars.
In 2001, Opher began work on the heliosphere while she was a postdoctoral student at the Jet Propulsion lab. Her researcher focuses on how the solar wind shapes the heliosphere, the protective atmospheric shield between Earth and the rest of the galaxy, where she has shown the shape of the heliosphere is similar to a croissant and not a comet with a tail as previously thought.
Opher's 2020 paper expanding on the crescent shape of the heliosphere was published in ''
Nature Astronomy
''Nature Astronomy'' is a peer reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was first published in January 2017 (volume 1, issue 1), although the first content appeared online in December 2016. The editor-in-chief is May Chiao, wh ...
'', featured on the cover of the July 2020 issue, and covered by the media. In 2021, Opher's research revealed that the stability of the heliosphere originates from the neutral hydrogen particles that interact with the heliosphere.
Opher has written in ''The Hill'' about the dangers of space tourism for people where she describes the radiation coming through space and the need to better understand how the heliosphere filters this radiation before people can travel safely to other planets.
As of 2021, Opher's research has been cited more than 4400 times and she has an h-index of 37.
Honors and awards
In 2008, Opher received an NSF Young Investigator Award,
a
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...
,
and she was named a Kavli Fellow by the
National Academy of Sciences.
In 2021, Opher was named a William Bentinck-Smith Fellow at the
Harvard Radcliffe Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
.
Selected publications
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References
External links
William Bentinck-Smith Fellowship Page*, April 20, 2018 video featuring Opher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opher, Merav
Boston University faculty
Women planetary scientists
American women physicists
Living people
21st-century women
Year of birth missing (living people)
University of São Paulo alumni