Manuel Peimbert Sierra (born June 9, 1941) is a Mexican astronomer and a faculty member at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM). He was named a foreign associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1987.

Biography

Peimbert was born in 1941 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. In his first year of college at UNAM, Peimbert went to the Tonantzintla Observatory in

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

with a friend, Gerardo Bátiz, and they told the observatory director, Guillermo Haro, that they wanted to help at the observatory. Haro put them to work with a Schmidt camera, and Peimbert and Bátiz found several

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, ten of which had never been described. They were later named the Peimbert-Bátiz nebulae, and subsequent study with astronomer Rafael Costero identified fourteen more. After earning an undergraduate physics degree from UNAM, Peimbert completed a doctorate at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

before returning to UNAM as a faculty member. He works at the UNAM Institute of Astronomy. From 1982 to 1988, Peimbert was vice president 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 ...

. In 1987, Peimbert was elected a foreign associate of the

. He was inducted into the Colegio Nacional in Mexico in 1993. Peimbert was named a fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences, and he was awarded one of the three TWAS Medal Lectures the first year they were held (1996). He received the Hans Bethe Prize from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

in 2012. Peimbert and his wife, fellow UNAM faculty member

Silvia Torres-Peimbert Silvia Torres-Peimbert (also known as Silvia Linda Torres Castilleja, born in 1940) is a Mexican astronomer. She won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science in 2011 for Latin America for her work determining the chemical composition of ...

, were the first non-U.S. scientists to win the Hans Bethe Prize. Peimbert was elected an international member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2002. Peimbert is the great-grandson of writer Justo Sierra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peimbert, Manuel Living people 1941 births Mexican astronomers Scientists from Mexico City National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences International members of the American Philosophical Society