María Teresa Ruiz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
María Teresa Ruiz
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María Teresa Ruiz in 2018
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| Born | 24 September 1946 |
| Occupation | Director of the Center for Excellence in Astrophysics and Associated Technologies. Professor at Universidad de Chile Department of Astronomy. |
| Known for | Discovering Kelu-1 |
| Partner(s) | Fernando Lund |
María Teresa Ruiz (born 24 September 1946) is a famous Chilean astronomer. She made history by becoming the first woman to win Chile's National Prize for Exact Sciences. She was also the first woman to get a PhD in astrophysics from Princeton University. Later, she became the first woman president of the Chilean Academy of Sciences.
María Teresa Ruiz is also well-known for discovering Kelu-1. This is a special type of star called a brown dwarf. In 2018, she was named one of the top 10 most powerful women in Chile. This was because of her amazing work in science. She has also written two books about space: Desde Chile un cielo estrellado (2013) and Hijos de las Estrellas (2017).
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Early Life and Education
María Teresa Ruiz was born in Santiago de Chile in 1946. In 1966, she started studying chemical engineering at the University of Chile. But during an astronomy summer school, she found her true passion. She then switched to the new astronomy program at the University of Chile. In 1971, she was the very first person to graduate from this program.
Career and Discoveries
In 1975, María Teresa Ruiz earned her PhD in astrophysics from Princeton University. She was the first woman ever to do so. After her studies, she worked as a researcher in Italy and Mexico.
In 1997, she received Chile's National Prize for Exact Sciences. This made her the first woman in Chile's history to win this important award.
Discovering Kelu-1
In 1997, María Teresa Ruiz made an exciting discovery: Kelu-1. This is a system made of two brown dwarf stars. Brown dwarfs are like "failed stars" because they are not big enough to burn like regular stars. Kelu-1 was also one of the first "free-floating" brown dwarfs found. This means it doesn't orbit a larger star.
Kelu-1 is located in the Hydra constellation. It is about 61 light-years away from Earth. When María Teresa Ruiz first saw Kelu-1, she was surprised. Its light spectrum was different from anything she had seen before. But she found lithium in the star and noticed it was very red. These clues helped her confirm it was a brown dwarf.
The name "Kelu" comes from the Mapuche language. It means "red," which describes the star's color.
Important Roles
María Teresa Ruiz has held many important positions in her career:
- From 1975 to 1976, she was a researcher at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste in Italy.
- From 1977 to 1978, she was a visiting researcher at the UNAM in Mexico.
- In 1978, she visited the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) at NASA.
- From 1979 to 1989, she taught astronomy at the Universidad de Chile.
- In 2015, she was chosen as the president of the Chilean Academy of Science.
- As of 2019, she is a professor at the Universidad de Chile. She also directs the Center for Excellence in Astrophysics and Associated Technologies (CATA).
Books by María Teresa Ruiz
- Desde Chile un cielo estrellado: lecturas para fascinarse con la astronomía (2013)
- Hijos de las estrellas (2017)
Awards and Honors
María Teresa Ruiz has received many awards for her contributions to science:
- Carnegie-Chile Fellowship, 1971–1975
- Presidential Chair in Science, 1996
- National Prize for Exact Sciences, 1997
- Fellow of the Academy of Sciences, 1998
- Scholarship Guggenheim, 2001
- L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science, 2017
- Recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2017
- Legion of Honour, Chevalier class (Knight)
Personal Life
María Teresa Ruiz enjoys embroidery as a hobby. She can create detailed portraits of people and families. She started embroidering when she studied abroad. She wanted to keep her family close, so she embroidered a family portrait.
She is married to Fernando Lund, who is also a Chilean scientist and professor. They have a son named Camilo, who is now a civil engineer.
See also
