Karen Jean Meech facts for kids

Karen J. Meech (born in 1959) is an American astronomer. She studies planets and space at the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) in the University of Hawaiʻi.

Discovering the Universe

Karen Meech is a planetary astronomer. This means she studies planets and other objects in space. She is especially interested in distant comets. Comets are like icy space rocks that orbit the Sun. She studies them to learn about the early Solar System.

Helping Others Learn About Space

Karen Meech also works with teachers and students. She started a program called Towards Planetary Systems (TOPS). This program helps science teachers and high school students in the Pacific islands learn more about space.

She earned her PhD in Planetary Sciences in 1987. This was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before that, she got her Bachelor of Science degree from Rice University in 1981. She has won several awards for her work. These include the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy in 1988. She also won the American Astronomical Society's H. C. Urey Prize in 1994.

Exploring Space Missions

Karen Meech has been a key part of several NASA space missions. She was involved with the Deep Impact mission. This mission sent a spacecraft to crash into a comet to study what it was made of.

She also worked on the EPOXI and Stardust-NExT missions. For all these missions, she helped organize observations. This meant getting telescopes on Earth and in space to look at the same things at the same time.

Currently, she leads a team at the University of Hawaiʻi NASA Astrobiology Institute. Their research focuses on "Water and Habitable Worlds." This means they study where water can be found in space and if other places could support life. She is also the President of a big astronomy group called the International Astronomical Union Division III. This group focuses on planetary systems science.

Awards and Recognition

Karen Meech has been honored for her important work.

Asteroid Named After Her

An outer main-belt asteroid was named after her. It is called 4367 Meech. An asteroid is a small rocky object that orbits the Sun. This asteroid was found by Schelte Bus in 1981. Naming an asteroid after her is a special way to recognize her contributions to astronomy.

Fellow of the American Astronomical Society

In 2024, she was named a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society. This is a big honor! She received this award for her amazing research. Her work includes studying comets both in our solar system and outside it. She also studied how water is spread out in the solar system. The award also recognized her for organizing large international teams. She also developed science programs for teachers. And she has given many years of service to the astronomy community.

List of discovered minor planets

See also

In Spanish: Karen Jean Meech para niños