Margaret Turnbull facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Margaret Turnbull
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At the Space Telescope Science Institute in 2016
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Arizona |
| Known for | Planetary habitability |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
Margaret Carol "Maggie" Turnbull (born 1975) is an American astronomer and astrobiologist. An astronomer studies stars, planets, and space. An astrobiologist looks for life beyond Earth.
She earned her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona in 2004. A PhD is a very high university degree. Dr. Turnbull is an expert on star systems that might have planets where life could exist. She also studies "solar twins," which are stars very similar to our Sun.
Dr. Turnbull is also skilled in using a special tool called a coronagraph. This tool helps block out the bright light from a star. This way, scientists can see the much fainter planets orbiting that star. These planets are called exoplanets because they are outside our solar system.
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Finding Habitable Planets
Dr. Turnbull has done important work in finding planets that could support life.
The HabCat List
In 2002, Dr. Turnbull and another scientist named Jill Tarter created something called the HabCat. This is a special list of star systems that might have planets where life could live.
The next year, Dr. Turnbull looked through the 5,000 stars on the HabCat list. She picked out 30 stars that seemed especially good for finding life. These stars are all within 100 light-years of Earth.
Searching for Life
In 2006, Dr. Turnbull made two smaller lists of just five stars each. These lists helped guide the search for life.
One list was used by the SETI Institute for radio searches. SETI stands for "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence." They use large radio telescopes, like the Allen Telescope Array, to listen for signals from space. The stars on this list were Beta Canum Venaticorum, HD 10307, HD 211415, 18 Scorpii, and 51 Pegasi.
The second list included her top choices for a future space telescope called the Terrestrial Planet Finder. This telescope would be designed to find Earth-like planets. The stars on this list were Epsilon Indi, Epsilon Eridani, 40 Eridani, Alpha Centauri B, and Tau Ceti.
Ongoing Research
Dr. Turnbull's work is still very important in the search for life in the universe. She helps decide how we define life and how we can find it.
Her experience with the HabCat list and coronagraphs makes her a strong supporter of missions that directly image exoplanets. She was a science team leader for the New Worlds Mission. This mission aims to use a large "starshade" to block starlight and see exoplanets directly.
In 2016, Dr. Turnbull became a leader for a science team working on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This telescope is designed to look for exoplanets by directly imaging them. In 2017, she worked with Stephen Kane to figure out more about the mass of Proxima Centauri b. This is the closest exoplanet to our solar system.
Asteroid Named in Her Honor
An asteroid was named after Dr. Turnbull! Asteroid 7863 Turnbull was found by Brian A. Skiff in 1981. It was officially named in her honor on September 28, 1999.
Politics
In 2018, Dr. Turnbull ran for the job of Governor of Wisconsin. She ran as an independent candidate with Wil Losch as her running mate. She received 18,779 votes and finished in fourth place.
See also
In Spanish: Margaret Turnbull para niños
