Andreja Gomboc facts for kids
Andreja Gomboc (born November 10, 1969) is a famous Slovenian astrophysicist. An astrophysicist is a scientist who studies space, stars, and galaxies.
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Andreja Gomboc's Early Life and Education
Andreja Gomboc was born in Murska Sobota, a town in Slovenia. She finished her studies in 1995 at the University of Ljubljana. Her first big project was about how a star looks when it falls into a black hole.
Becoming a Doctor of Physics
From 1995 to 2001, she continued her studies in physics and also helped teach students. She earned her Ph.D. (a very high degree in science) by writing about how stars change brightness when they get close to a black hole. Her research looked at what happens when a star gets too close to a huge black hole in the center of a galaxy.
Teaching and Research Career
After getting her Ph.D., Andreja Gomboc became a professor at the University of Ljubljana. She taught about astrophysics and astronomy. Since 2015, she has been a full professor of astronomy at the University of Nova Gorica.
Awards for Her Research
In 2002, she received the Pomurje research award for her Ph.D. work. This award recognized her important discoveries.
From 2002 to 2004, she worked as a special researcher in England. She joined a project to study the bright flashes of light that appear after gamma ray bursts. These flashes are seen using large robotic telescopes around the world.
Her team received a special award in 2007 for their work on measuring the light from these gamma-ray bursts. Their findings were published in Science, a very important science magazine. She has also helped write articles published in Science and Nature, which are top science journals.
Contributions to Space Science
In 2010, she gave a speech called "Us and the Universe" in the Slovenian Parliament. This was part of a project to share knowledge with more people.
Working with the European Space Agency
Andreja Gomboc is part of the Gaia mission, launched by the ESA in 2013. The Gaia mission is like a super-accurate mapmaker for our galaxy. It measures the distance and speed of about a billion stars.
From 2011 to 2014, she led an ESA project about a special navigation system based on Einstein's theory of relativity.
Her Main Research Areas
Her main research areas include astronomy and astrophysics, black holes, gamma ray bursts, and how stars spin.
Sharing Knowledge with Everyone
She writes articles about astronomy and astrophysics for Spika, a Slovenian magazine about space. She also started and edits a website called Portal v vesolje, which shares information about space.
International Year of Astronomy
In 2009, which was the International Year of Astronomy, she was the main person in charge for Slovenia. She helped organize many events, like photo exhibitions and open days at the Astronomical and Geophysical Observatory Golovec.
She received the Prometheus of Science award in 2007 for helping to edit a book about women physicists. She also received the Prometheus of Science award in 2009 for leading the International Year of Astronomy events in Slovenia.
She is the head of the national committee for an astronomy competition for students in Slovenia. She is also a member of several important astronomy groups, like the European Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union.
Recent Achievements
In 2015, she received the Zois Certificate of Recognition, a top Slovenian state award. This was for her important discoveries about Gamma Ray Bursts.
In 2016, she organized a big astronomy meeting called "New Frontiers in Black Hole Astrophysics." This was the first time the International Astronomical Union held a symposium in Slovenia.
See also
In Spanish: Andreja Gomboc para niños
