Belinda Wilkes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Belinda J. Wilkes
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Wilkes in 2012
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Staffordshire, England
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| Alma mater | Wolverhampton Girls' High School, University of St. Andrews, University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Astrophysicist |
Belinda Jane Wilkes is a very important scientist who studies space. She is an astrophysicist. She works at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. She used to be the director of the Chandra X-ray Center. This center helps run a special telescope that looks at X-rays from space.
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Belinda Wilkes's Journey in Space Science
Belinda Jane Wilkes was born in Staffordshire, England. She grew up in a town called Albrighton. She went to Wolverhampton Girls' High School. After that, she studied Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She then earned her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge in England.
In 1982, she moved to the USA. She worked at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. She was a NATO postdoctoral fellow there. This means she was a scientist doing advanced research after getting her PhD. In 1984, she joined the High Energy Astrophysics Division at SAO. This division is part of the Center for Astrophysics.
What Belinda Wilkes Studies
Belinda Wilkes's main research is about objects called quasars. Quasars are like super bright lights in the universe. They are actually galaxies that have huge black holes at their centers. These black holes are called super-massive black holes. Quasars are some of the brightest things we can see in the universe. Dr. Wilkes studies them using different types of light, not just the light we can see.
She has written more than 165 science papers. These papers are published in special journals. Other scientists review these papers to make sure they are correct. She has also been part of many important science groups. She helps guide how space telescopes work. She is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. She is also a member of the International Astronomical Union.
Awards and Honors
Belinda Wilkes has received many awards for her work.
- In 2018, she became an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. This is one of the colleges at the University of Cambridge.
- In 2020, she was named a fellow of the American Physical Society. This was for her important work on active galactic nuclei. These are the bright centers of galaxies, like quasars. She helped us understand how they shine and how they change over time. She was also recognized for leading the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
- In 2021, she became a fellow of the American Astronomical Society. This was for her great leadership of the Chandra X-ray Center. She was also named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- In 2023, she received the Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize. This award from the Institute of Physics was for her leadership of the Chandra X-ray Center.
See also
In Spanish: Belinda Wilkes para niños
- List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects
