Michael Perryman is a British astronomer, known for his work leading the Hipparcos and Gaia space astrometric projects.

Education

Michael Perryman studied theoretical physics at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

and received his doctorate from the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, in 1979.

Hipparcos

He joined the

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

in 1980, where he headed the Hipparcos astrometric project as Project Scientist from 1981 till 1997. After the satellite failed to reach its target geostationary orbit, he also took over the mission management, the project eventually recovering all and more of its original scientific objectives.

Gaia

In 1993, together with Lennart Lindegren, he jointly proposed a more ambitious astrometric mission to take advantage of technological advances such as CCDs (unavailable for Hipparcos) and large lightweight mirrors. In 1995, Perryman was named study scientist for the new mission concept, named Gaia. The mission was approved by ESA's Science Programme Committee in 2000 and Perryman appointed project scientist. He led the Gaia project till the Critical Design Review in 2008, establishing the payload concept, technical feasibility, operational and data analysis principles, its organisation structure, and coordinating its scientific case, leading to its successful launch in 2013.

Institutions

He was Professor of Astronomy at Leiden University from 1993 to 2009. In 2010, he held a joint position at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

and the

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, MPIA) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG). It is located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near the top of the Königstuhl, adjacent to the ...

, Heidelberg, and since 2012 he has been adjunct professor at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

. He was

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visiting professor at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

in 2013.

Recognitions

The main belt asteroid 10969 Perryman has been named in recognition of his contributions to astrometry. In 1999 Perryman was awarded the Academy Medal by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2011 he was awarded the Tycho Brahe Prize of the

European Astronomical Society The European Astronomical Society (EAS) is a learned society, founded under the Swiss Civil Code in 1990, as an association to contribute and promote the advancement of astronomy in Europe, and to deal with astronomical matters at a European lev ...

for his ''crucial role in the fostering of high precision, global stellar astrometry from space, in particular the development of the Hipparcos mission.'' In 2022 he received the Shaw Prize in Astronomy jointly with Lennart Lindegren.Shaw Prize 2022
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perryman, Michael 20th-century British astronomers 1954 births Living people Members of Academia Europaea Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century British astronomers