Aki Roberge
Research Astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Dr Aki Roberge (born c. 1973) is a research astrophysicist at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center , where she is currently the Associate Director for Technology and Strategy.[ 1] Her research focuses on observational studies of debris disks [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] and planet formation around nearby young stars ,[ 6] [ 7] with an aim to be able to characterize planets around other stars,[ 8] perhaps even to find signs of life on them.[ 9] She is particularly known for her research on the debris disk around Beta Pictoris .[ 10] [ 11]
Early life and education
Born in Kyoto , Japan,[ 12] to an American potter [ 13] and a Japanese Chemical engineer ,[ 9] Roberge grew up in a rural community in Vermont and was exposed to science in high school. She earned a bachelor's degree in Physics with a minor in Planetary science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996 with Jim Elliot (discoverer of the rings of Uranus )[ 9] and a PhD in Astrophysics from Johns Hopkins University in 2002. Her thesis work, conducted under the guidance of Hopkins Professor Paul D. Feldman, was titled "Ultraviolet spectroscopy of circumstellar disks".[ 14] She went on to conduct postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution for Science with Alycia J. Weinberger before taking a position at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 2005.
NASA work
Her early work at NASA continued to focus on debris disks, in particular Beta Pictoris, for which she is a recognized expert.[ 15] Her work was crucial in demonstrating its extreme carbon-rich nature,[ 11] [ 16] and later in studying the carbon monoxide gas clouds indicating swarms of colliding comets in the young system.[ 17] [ 18] [ 19]
In 2013 she served as one of the members of the study that produced a 30-year roadmap for NASA astrophysics.[ 20] Her work has included substantial contributions to mission concept development, in particular being deeply involved in developing future space missions for exoplanet detection,[ 21] including the starshade approach to blocking starlight.[ 22]
LUVOIR
From 2016 to 2019 she served as the Study Scientist for the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) mission concept, a multi-wavelength space telescope design developed by NASA as one of four large astrophysics space mission concepts[ 23] studied in preparation for the National Academy of Sciences 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey .[ 24] [ 25] A primary aim of LUVOIR is to enable the investigation of a wide range of exoplanets ,[ 26] specifically to be able to discern those that might be habitable [ 27] or even inhabited.[ 28] [ 29] Under Roberge's leadership LUVOIR was also designed[ 30] with broader capabilities to build on and surpass[ 28] those of the Hubble Space Telescope , James Webb Space Telescope , and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope , enabling groundbreaking studies of the early universe , galaxy formation and evolution , star and planet formation , and Solar System bodies. This concept was compelling enough that, in 2021, a mission aligned with these goals was selected as the top priority large space mission for NASA to build across the following decades.[ 31]
From 2020 to 2021 Roberge was the Deputy Program Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope , during which time she worked on a team to document the connection between Roman's coronagraph and LUVOIR needs.[ 32] Since 2022 she has been the Associate Director for Technology and Strategy in Astrophysics at Goddard.[ 1]
Roberge is a noted expert on debris disks, especially for studies of the disk around Beta Pictoris .[ 16]
References
^ a b "Aki Roberge's Home Page" . asd.gsfc.nasa.gov . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ "NASA Goddard's Aki Roberge Explains about Beta Pictoris" . EurekAlert! . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ "What's Cooler Than One Comet? A Storm of Them" . Time . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ "A Chaotic Planet-Forming Disk" . Sky & Telescope . March 6, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ Aki Roberge; Alycia J. Weinberger; Seth Redfield & Paul D. Feldman (June 20, 2005). "Rapid Dissipation of Primordial Gas from the AU Microscopii Debris Disk". The Astrophysical Journal . 626 (2): L105 – L108 . arXiv :astro-ph/0505302 . Bibcode :2005ApJ...626L.105R . doi :10.1086/431899 . S2CID 367734 .
^ "Exoplanets and the Search for Life - An Exploration in Four Lectures - Speakers from NASA & Yale University" . PSW Science . Retrieved August 28, 2022 .
^ "Astronomers expect to find many more Earth-like planets" . Financial Times . February 16, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ "20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity" . Scientific American . 315 (3): 85– 86. September 1, 2016. doi :10.1038/scientificamerican0916-28 . PMID 27924887 .
^ a b c "NASA Astrobiology" . astrobiology.nasa.gov . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ Roberge, A.; Feldman, P. D.; Lagrange, A. M.; Vidal-Madjar, A.; Ferlet, R.; Jolly, A.; Lemaire, J. L.; Rostas, F. (August 1, 2000). "High-Resolution HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE STIS Spectra of C I and CO in the β Pictoris Circumstellar Disk". The Astrophysical Journal . 538 (2): 904. arXiv :astro-ph/0003446 . Bibcode :2000ApJ...538..904R . doi :10.1086/309157 . S2CID 73592760 .
^ a b Roberge, Aki; Feldman, Paul D.; Weinberger, Alycia J.; Deleuil, Magali; Bouret, Jean-Claude (June 8, 2006). "Stabilization of the disk around β Pictoris by extremely carbon-rich gas". Nature . 441 (7094): 724– 726. arXiv :astro-ph/0604412 . Bibcode :2006Natur.441..724R . doi :10.1038/nature04832 . PMID 16760971 . S2CID 118990440 .
^ "Imagine the Universe!" . imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ "Ask an Astrobiologist" . astrobiology.nasa.gov . Retrieved September 2, 2022 .
^ Roberge, Aki (2003). Ultraviolet spectroscopy of circumstellar disks (Thesis). ProQuest 305315892 .
^ Billings, Lee. "Hundreds of Comets Seen Orbiting Distant Solar System" . Scientific American . Retrieved September 17, 2022 .
^ a b "The Birth of Carbon Planets?" . Sky & Telescope . June 9, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ Reddy, Francis (March 7, 2014). "ALMA Reveals Unexpected Gas Clump in Debris Disc Around Beta Pictoris" . SciTechDaily . Retrieved September 17, 2022 .
^ "ALMA sees wreckage of comet collisions in nearby solar system" . ALMA Press Releases . March 6, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2022 .
^ Subodh Varma (March 7, 2014). "A cosmic whodunit unfolds as ALMA investigates mysterious gas blob – Times of India" . The Times of India . Retrieved September 17, 2022 .
^ Hall, Shannon (January 17, 2014). "Enduring Quests and Daring Visions: NASA Lays Out a Roadmap for Astrophysics" . Universe Today . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ Kaufman, Marc (March 15, 2017). "A Vision That Could Supercharge NASA" . Many Worlds . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ Wright, Chris. "To Study the Next Earth, NASA May Need to Throw Some Shade" . Wired . ISSN 1059-1028 . Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ "Astronomers Dream Big, Consider Four Future Space Telescopes" . Sky & Telescope . November 3, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2022 .
^ Foust, Jeff (January 21, 2019). "Selecting the next great space observatory" . The Space Review . Retrieved September 20, 2020 .
^ "Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 (Astro2020)" . National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine . March 23, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021 .
^ Bartels, Meghan (March 2, 2020). "Meet LUVOIR, which might become one of NASA's next big space telescopes" . Space.com . Retrieved September 2, 2022 .
^ Wright, Chris. "The Gaia Mission Keeps Unlocking Secrets of the Galaxy" . Wired . ISSN 1059-1028 . Retrieved September 2, 2022 .
^ a b "New Space Telescopes Race For A New View Of The Cosmos" . Science Friday . Retrieved September 2, 2022 .
^ Gasparini, Allison. "Our Sun Could Someday Reveal the Surfaces of Alien Earths" . Scientific American . Retrieved September 2, 2022 .
^ Kaufman, Marc (March 15, 2017). "A Vision That Could Supercharge NASA" . Many Worlds . Retrieved September 2, 2022 .
^ Witze, Alexandra (November 4, 2021). "US astronomy's 10-year plan is super-ambitious" . Nature . 599 (7884): 192– 193. Bibcode :2021Natur.599..192W . doi :10.1038/d41586-021-03027-y . PMID 34737412 . S2CID 243761658 .
^ Mennesson, B.; Juanola-Parramon, R.; Nemati, B.; Ruane, G.; Bailey, V.; Bolcar, M.; Martin, S.; Zimmerman, N.; Stark, C.; Pueyo, L.; Benford, D.; Cady, E.; Crill, B.; Douglas, E.; Gaudi, B. (2020). "Paving the Way to Future Missions: the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Technology Demonstration". S2CID 221112127 .
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