Carole Jordan facts for kids

Dame Carole Jordan (born 19 July 1941) is a famous British physicist, astrophysicist, and astronomer. She is a Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford. She is also an Emeritus Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford.

Dame Carole made history as the first woman to be President of the Royal Astronomical Society. This happened from 1994 to 1996. In 2005, she won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. She was only the third woman to receive this special award. She was also one of the first female professors in Astronomy in Britain. In 2006, she was honored as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. This was for her important work in physics and astronomy.

Early Life and Education

Carole Jordan went to Harrow County Grammar School for Girls. She then studied at University College London. She earned her first degree in 1962 and her PhD in 1965. Even before finishing her first degree, she wrote a paper about how lunar craters are shaped.

For her PhD, she worked with C. W. Allen. Her studies helped create a new area in atomic physics. She learned to identify different elements, like iron, in the Sun's light. She also studied early experiments with hot gases, like the ZETA experiment. Her work helped scientists figure out how dense and hot gases are in space. Her first paper about the Sun's outer layer, called the corona, was published in 1965.

Exploring the Sun and Stars

Dame Carole Jordan's scientific work focused on understanding how elements behave in very hot gases, like those found in the Sun and stars. She studied how atoms lose or gain electrons, which is called "ionisation balance." This helped explain what scientists saw when they looked at the Sun and other stars.

Her research on data from the Skylab mission helped us better understand certain types of atoms. This knowledge was important for developing new technologies, like X-ray lasers. She also created ways to measure how dense and hot gases are. When combined with her other methods, this gave new insights into the outer layers of cool stars, young stars called T Tauri Stars, and our own Sun.

In 1970, a solar eclipse allowed her to find new, previously unknown lines in the Sun's light. After a satellite called the International Ultraviolet Explorer was launched in 1978, she started studying the outer layers of other stars. Her deep knowledge of the Sun helped her explore this new area of astrophysics. She identified many elements in the light coming from distant stars. Since about 1980, she has been a key part of many teams. These teams in the UK, Europe, and the US developed and used instruments to study the ultra-violet and x-ray light from the Sun and other stars.

Career Highlights

Dame Carole Jordan has held many important positions throughout her career:

• In 1966, she was a research associate at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
• From 1966 to 1969, she was an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Astronomy, UCL. She worked with the Spectroscopy Division of UKAEA Culham Laboratory. During this time, she finished her calculations on how elements ionise. She also identified some special lines in light that were not expected. In 1969, she began to find ways to understand the structure of the Sun's "transition region."
• She worked at the Astrophysics Research Unit at Culham Laboratory from 1969 to 1976.
• From 1976 onwards, she was a Tutorial Fellow in Natural Science at Somerville College, Oxford.
• At the University of Oxford, she became a reader in physics in 1994 and a professor of physics in 1996. She led the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics from 2003 to 2008. She became an emeritus professor in 2008.

She has written many papers about how hot gases in space behave. She also studied the structure and energy balance in the outer layers of cool stars. Dame Carole Jordan's picture is displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. This shows how much her career achievements are recognized.

Important Affiliations

Dame Carole Jordan has been involved with many important scientific groups:

• Royal Astronomical Society: She became a Fellow in 1966. She served as secretary from 1981 to 1990. She was vice-president from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 1997. She was President from 1994 to 1996.
• International Astronomical Union: She became a member in 1967.
• The Observatory: She was an editor for this journal from 1968 to 1973.
• Institute of Physics: She became a Fellow in 1973.
• Royal Society: She became a Fellow in 1990.
• University of Surrey: She received an honorary Doctor degree from this university in 1991.
• Science and Engineering Research Council: She was a member from 1985 to 1990. She chaired the Solar System Committee from 1983 to 1986. She was also on the Astronomy, Space and Radio Board and the Astronomy and Planetary Science Board.
• Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council: She was a member from 1994 to 1997.

Damehood Recognition

Carole Jordan was given the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 17 June 2006. This high honor recognized her significant contributions to physics and astronomy.

See also

In Spanish: Carole Jordan para niños