Marta Burgay facts for kids

Marta Burgay (born 30 November 1976 in Torino, Italy) is a famous Italian radio astronomer. She is best known for discovering PSR J0737-3039, which was the very first double pulsar ever found. A double pulsar means two pulsars orbiting each other! She made this amazing discovery using the huge 64-metre Parkes radio telescope in Australia.

Awards and Recognition

Marta Burgay has received several important awards for her work in astronomy. These awards show how much her discoveries have helped us understand the universe.

Top Thesis Award

• In 2005, her special research paper about radio pulsars won the Pietro Tacchini Prize. This award is given by the Italian Astronomical Society (Italian: Società Astronomica Italiana) for the best Ph.D. thesis. A Ph.D. thesis is a big research project that students complete to earn their highest university degree.

Young Scientist Prize

• In 2006, Marta Burgay became the first person to win the IUPAP's Young Scientists Prize in Astrophysics. This award celebrates young scientists who are doing excellent work in the field of astrophysics, which is the study of stars, planets, and galaxies.

Gold Medal for Astronomy

• In 2010, she was honored with the Vainu Bappu Gold Medal. This special medal was given to her by the Astronomical Society of India to recognize her important contributions to astronomy.

Asteroid Named After Her

• An asteroid was named 198634 Burgaymarta in her honor! This asteroid was discovered in 2005 at the Vallemare di Borbona observatory. The official announcement that it was named after her was made on 5 October 2017 by the Minor Planet Center.