Planetary scientist Michele Dougherty made UK’s first female astronomer royal | Astronomy

In one of the months of Saturn, a planetary scientist became the royal royal of a planetary scientist who revealed the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Prof Michele Dougherty, a leading space physicist, a researcher of NASA Cassini Mission, received 350 -year -old Fahri Title.

As a researcher in two major space mission, Dougherty played a role in the great discoveries in the solar system; The revelation of the water vapor jets from Enceladus, one of the months of Saturn, can support life.

Dougherty said he was “absolutely very happy” from his appointment. “As a small child, I never thought that I would work on planetary spacecraft mission and science, so I can’t believe that I am actually in this position. In this role, I look forward to interacting the general people how exciting Astronomy is and how important it is to our daily life.”

The role of astronomer Royal was created in 1675 to discover how to determine the longitude at sea with the appearance of the land. The outgoing astronomer royal, Martin Rees retires from the role.

Dougherty said to the BBC Radio 4’s Today Program on Wednesday: “Since I have always been chosen for a role, not because I am for me, not because I am. Especially for young girls, to see someone who resembles such a role in such a role, if I think of something like a few people, maybe if I can do it, maybe, maybe, maybe, perhaps, maybe Maybe if he can, maybe he can do something, if he could do something, I would do something.

He will play as well as his current positions as a professor of space physics at the Imperial College London, the head of the Institute of Physics and Technology Facilities Council.

He said he was afraid of the future of science financing. “Currently, things are uneasy all over the world. So we are very clear why we have done our research in England and why it is so important for the health and welfare of the UK economy.”

The main role will be önemli Talking about how we can affect the science and people we make with people ”.

62 -year -old Dougherty was born in South Africa and has the heritage of English and Irish. When he was about 10 years old, his father built a telescope and helped to mix Dougherty and his sister’s concrete base. “My first opinion on Jupiter and his four largest bearings and Saturn and rings passed through my father’s telescope,” he said.

Expertise are the instruments and operating tools to measure the magnetic field in space in NASA and European Space Agency (ESA).

While Cassini spacecraft was flying by Enceladus in 2005, Cassini noticed a “small anomaly ında in the measurement of the magnetic field of the spacecraft, which suggests that the moon could have an unexpected atmosphere. He convinced NASA chiefs to send Cassini back to take a closer look.

HE Told The Times: “I didn’t sleep in the first few nights before. We had not seen anything.

Enceladus is now considered one of the most promising places to look for alien life. Dougherty designed instruments to find out more, including an eight -year journey in ESA’s Jupiter ICY MOons Explorer (Juice) mission. The largest bear of the solar system, which has a larger than Mercury and has a single core seeking a “global ocean ında under the surface, will scan the Ganymede.

Dougherty began to work on Cassini in 1992 and the probe operates until 2017. He started Juice in 2008; It will reach Jupiter in 2031 and operate until 2035.

Dame Angela McLean, the Chief Scientific Advisor of the Government, said: “Warm congratulations for the appointment of Professor Michele Dougherty to the distinguished position of astronomer Royal. This is an appropriate recognition of its extraordinary work and its permanent commitment to the field of astronomy.”