Agnès Acker, née ''Keller'', (born 28 January 1940 in Thann,

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

) is a French astrophysicist,

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, founder of the Strasbourg Planetarium and founding president of the Association of French-speaking Planetaries (APLF). Her research focuses on the late stages of solar-type star evolution:

planetary nebula A planetary nebula is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer because they are unrelated to planets. The ...

e, binarity of nuclei,

stellar wind A stellar wind is a flow of gas ejected from the stellar atmosphere, upper atmosphere of a star. It is distinguished from the bipolar outflows characteristic of young stars by being less collimated, although stellar winds are not generally spheri ...

s. Université Nice Sophia Antipolisbr>

Biography

Acker holds a State Doctorate from 1976 at the

under the title ''Cinématique, âge et binarité des noyaux de nébuleuses planétaires''. She founded the Strasbourg Planetarium, which she directed for 22 years (1979-2001),"Agnès ACKER "
, Fond'action Alsace website the Association of French-speaking Planetaries (APLF) which she chaired for 26 years (1984-2010), the "Stellar Populations" research team for which she was responsible for 10 years (1987-1997), and earned a Master of Advanced Studies, Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in astrophysics at the

Observatory of Strasbourg The Observatory of Strasbourg is an astronomical observatory in Strasbourg, France. History This observatory is actually Strasbourg's third observatory: the first was built in 1673 on one of the city's surrounding towers (the astronomer Julius R ...

which she directed for 12 years (1991-2002). A university professor, she was promoted to the exceptional class in 2003, then to the ''emeritus'' in 2009. Acker also held responsibilities in various organizationsObservatory of Strasbourg website
and was a member of the National Steering Committee of the

International Year of Astronomy The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a year-long celebration of astronomy that took place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the pu ...

(AMA09), creator and co-chair of BEATEP, Member of 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) since 1976, Board Member of the International Planetarium Society (IPS) since 1990, member of the Scientific and Pedagogical Council of Le Vaisseau, CCSTI Strasbourg, from 2004 to 2009, elected member of the Council of Teachers and Astronomers Liaison Committee (CLEA) since 1990, director of the Science Garden, CCSTI of

Louis Pasteur University Louis Pasteur University (, ULP), also known as Strasbourg I, was a large university in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. As of 15 January 2007, there were 18,847 students enrolled at the university, including around 3,000 foreign students. Researc ...

from 1991 to 1994, elected member of the National Council Universities (CNU) from 1987 to 1991 and member of the Regional Economic and Social Council of Alsace (CÉSER Alsace) from 1995 to 2001. In the specific field of planetaria, Acker has been project manager of several European Planetarium shows in APLF / ESO partnership: ''Les mystères du ciel austral'' (2002), ''ALMA : la quête de nos origines cosmiques'' (2009), ''L'eau : une aventure cosmique'' (2012). Between 1982 and 2008, she was the author and scriptwriter of twelve planetarium shows. In 2005 she produced a trilingual version of the CD-ROM '' Explore the Universe '', created by the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

('' Hands-On Universe ''). Since 1995, she has been the director of publication of the magazine ''Planétariums''. She is also the founder (1984) and the director of the "Planetarium" collection of the Strasbourg Observatory. Agnès Acker was married to Robert Acker (1940 – 4 Dezember 2022). The couple had five children, Nathalie, Madeleine, Pierre, Elisabeth und Jean-Michel, and 9 grandchildren. She was a fan of

motorcycle sport Motorcycle sport is a group of competitive sporting events that involve motorcycles, where riders participate in various disciplines such as racing, stunt riding, trials, and endurance contests. These sports test speed, skill, endurance, and con ...

and rode a Hornet 600 (95 CV).

Selected publications

Acker is the author or co-author of more than 200 articles in international astrophysics journals and many educational and scientific publications. * '' Initiation à l'astronomie'', Masson 1978, 1981, 1986 * ''Astronomie, astrophysique. Introduction'', Dunod, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2005, 2013 * ''Formes et couleurs dans l'univers : nébuleuses, amas d'étoiles, galaxie'', Masson, 1987 * ''Le planétarium : un spectacle nouveau dans votre ville'', Valblor, 1991 * ''Astronomie : méthodes et calculs : exercices corrigés'' (in coll. with Carlos Jaschek), Masson, 1984, 1995 * ''Vie et mort des étoiles : un exposé pour comprendre, un essai pour réfléchir'' (in collab. with Ariane Lançon), Flammarion, Dominos, 1998 * ''L'univers astronomique'' (in coll. with

Jean-Claude Pecker Jean-Claude Pecker (10 May 1923 – 20 February 2020) was a French astronomer, astrophysicist and author, member of the French Academy of Sciences and director of the Nice Observatory. He served as the secretary-general of the International Ast ...

), Observatoire de Strasbourg, 2001, 2006 * ''Étoiles et matière interstellaire'' (in coll. with James Lequeux, Claude Bertout, Jean-Paul Zahn, Nicolas Prantzos and Jean-Pierre Lasota), Ellipses, 2008, 2009 * ''L’Arc-en-ciel des étoiles'' (dir.), APLF/Observatoire de Strasbourg, 2010 (educational booklet)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acker, Agnes 1940 births Living people People from Haut-Rhin French astrophysicists French women astrophysicists Officers of the Legion of Honour Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques