Lars Lindberg Christensen (born 18 October 1970) is a

science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the public awareness of and interest in sci ...

and author of a dozen books on

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 science communication translated to ten languages. He had a long career with the

European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m ...

(ESO) and is employed by the U.S.

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

NOIRLab The National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) is the United States' national facility for ground-based, night-time optical and infrared astronomy. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by the ...

and the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

(IAU). As press officer for the latter he was leading the media communication of the 2006 IAU

reclassification of Pluto The International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted in August 2006 the definition made by Uruguayan astronomers Julio Ángel Fernández and Gonzalo Tancredi that stated, that in the Solar System, a ''planet'' is a celestial body that: # is in orb ...

as a

dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be hydrostatic equilibrium, gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve clearing the neighbourhood, orbital dominance like the ...

. He leads the Portal to the Universe project, and was the initiator of the ESA/ESO/

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

FITS Liberator The ESA/ESO/NASA FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) Liberator is a free software program for processing and editing astronomical data in the FITS format to reproduce images of the universe. Version 3 and later are standalone programs; earlie ...

project. He leads the Hubblecast and ESOcast video podcasts and initiated the

Astronomy Visualization Metadata Astronomy Visualization Metadata (AVM) is a standard for tagging digital astronomical images stored in formats such as JPEG, GIF, PNG and TIFF. The AVM standard extends the concept of Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) headers to include useful ast ...

project, that later became the Virtual Astronomy Multimedia Project. He has received various awards including the Danish Tycho Brahe Medal, the 2022 International Planetarium Society Technology & Innovation Award, and the

Klumpke-Roberts Award The Klumpke-Roberts Award, one of seven international and national awards for service to astronomy and astronomy education given by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, was established from a bequest by astronomer An astronomer is a sci ...

of the

Astronomical Society of the Pacific The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is an American scientific and educational organization, founded in San Francisco on February 7, 1889, immediately following the solar eclipse of January 1, 1889. Its name derives from its origins on ...

Bibliography

*''The Hands-On Guide for Science Communicators'' (2007)

External links

Lars Lindberg Christensen
''staff.noirlab.edu''

References

1970 births Living people 20th-century Danish astronomers Scientists from Copenhagen University of Copenhagen alumni 21st-century Danish astronomers {{Denmark-scientist-stub