Nikole Lewis is an astrophysicist and an assistant professor of

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Career

Her major research interests include observational and theoretical techniques for probing exoplanet atmospheres. She co-led a

spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wav ...

survey of the TRAPPIST-1 system in 2018 using 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 ...

, which was the first such survey for Earth-sized

exoplanets An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

. She also took part in the original announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 system in 2017 by helping describe the system and the importance of detecting atmospheres to search for

biosignatures A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, or molecule – or phenomenon that provides scientific evidence of past or present life. Measurable attribute ...

References

External links

Astronomy Homepage at Cornell Univ.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Nikole Living people 21st-century American women scientists 20th-century American women scientists American women astronomers Cornell University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) University of Arizona alumni Boston University alumni Worcester Polytechnic Institute alumni Planetary scientists American women academics