Yvonne Elsworth FRS

FInstP Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gained ...

FRAS FRAS may refer to: * Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, post-nominal letters * Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are individuals who have bee ...

is an Irish

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, Professor of

Helioseismology Helioseismology, a term coined by Douglas Gough, is the study of the structure and dynamics of the Sun through its oscillations. These are principally caused by sound waves that are continuously driven and damped by convection near the Sun's surfa ...

and Poynting Professor of Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. Elsworth was until 2015 also the Head of the

Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network The Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON) consists of a network of six remote solar observatories monitoring low-degree solar oscillation modes. It is operated by the High Resolution Optical Spectroscopy group of the School of Physics ...

(BiSON), the longest running helioseismology network with data covering well over three solar cycles.

Education

In 1970 Elsworth graduated with honours from the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. In 1976 she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the School of Physics at the

. Her thesis work was entitled "A field-compensated multiplex spectrometer for the visible region" and was concerned with the design and implementation of a novel form of field-widened

Michelson interferometer The Michelson interferometer is a common configuration for optical interferometry and was invented by the 19/20th-century American physicist Albert Abraham Michelson. Using a beam splitter, a light source is split into two arms. Each of those li ...

designed to study faint, extended sources like those coming from optical emission from the

thermosphere The thermosphere is the layer in the Earth's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. Within this layer of the atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation causes photoionization/photodissociation of molecules, creating ions; the ...

Research

In 1984 Elsworth was appointed to a faculty position at the

, where she focused on

helioseismology Helioseismology, a term coined by Douglas Gough, is the study of the structure and dynamics of the Sun through its oscillations. These are principally caused by sound waves that are continuously driven and damped by convection near the Sun's surfa ...

solar physics Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It deals with detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics, astrophysics, and compu ...

, solar variability, and latterly

asteroseismology Asteroseismology or astroseismology is the study of oscillations in stars. Stars have many resonant modes and frequencies, and the path of sound waves passing through a star depends on the speed of sound, which in turn depends on local temperature ...

stellar physics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

and stellar variability. She participated in and later led the Birmingham Solar Oscillation Network. Her research has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Awards and honours

Elsworth was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015 for her work on helioseismology. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: Her certificate of election reads: In 2011 she was awarded the Payne-Gaposchkin Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics (IoP). and in 2020 the

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...

in Geophysics. Elsworth is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsworth, Yvonne Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British physicists 21st-century British astronomers Women astronomers Fellows of the Royal Society Female Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of the University of Birmingham Fellows of the Institute of Physics Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society