Francesca DeMeo, or Francesca E. DeMeo is an American doctoral astrophysicist,

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

er and speaker specializing in the study of celestial bodies in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

, including more particularly

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and

moons A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are colloquially referred to as moons, a deriva ...

. She is the creator of the modern system of taxonomic classification of asteroids with Schelte J. Bus. With Benoît Carry, she brought a new vision of the main asteroid belt. She pursued entrepreneurial activities alongside astronomy.

Education and career

At the age of 18, Francesca DeMeo pursued in-depth studies of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge until 2006. She obtained two undergraduate degrees: B.S. in Physics and B.S. in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. In 2007, she received a M.S. in Planetary Science including small celestial bodies, asteroids, comets, moons, etc. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2007 and 2008 to study of planetary sciences within

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

astrophysics 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, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

as a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Advanced Student, to pursue a PhD at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...

on the study of small bodies in the Solar System. In 2009, she received an Eiffel excellence scholarship to support her final year of doctoral studies. In 2009 she published the Bus-DeMeo asteroid taxonomic classification system. This system has become the reference in the spectral classification of asteroids. She obtained her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2010. The dissertation on small solar bodies was titled: The Compositional Variation of Small Bodies across the Solar System. Her thesis co-supervisors are Maria Antonella Barucci and Richard P. Binzel. The taxonomy paper from 2009 is one of the most cited papers in all of asteroid science, 672 times as of June 23, 2024. She obtained her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2010. The dissertation on small solar bodies was titled: "The Compositional Variation of Small Bodies across the Solar System". Her thesis co-supervisors are Maria Antonella Barucci and Richard P. Binzel, with whom she continued collaborating.

Awards

# 2006 Christopher Goetze Prize # 2012 Asteroid named DeMeo (8070). # 2013 Hubble Fellowship. # 2018 Harold Clayton Urey Award issued by Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society # 2018 The Division of Planetology of the American Astronautical Society awards her the Harold C. Urey Prize "in recognition of the broad foundational understanding of the study of solar system bodies using the modern system of asteroid classification that bears her name."

Publication of research

DeMeo's papers on planetology in ''Nature'' and

Icarus In Greek mythology, Icarus (; , ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of King Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, Minos suspected that Icarus and Daedalu ...

about

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon ( ; ) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and ...

, (52872) Okyhroe, (90482) Orcus, (379) Huenna and

Small Solar System body A small Solar System body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural satellite. The term was first defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as follows: "All other objects ...

Other activities

In 2011, Francesca DeMeo served as co-founder, CIO of Cambridge Select Inc. The same year, she served as a volunteer member of the board of directors of the Governor's Academy and remained there until 2021.

References

External links

* Meanings of minor planet names: 8001–9000 {{DEFAULTSORT:DeMeo, Francesca E. Astrophysics Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty American planetary scientists American women planetary scientists 21st-century American astronomers Scientists from Massachusetts Living people Year of birth missing (living people)