Naomi McClure-Griffiths facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Naomi McClure-Griffiths
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In an "Ask an astrophysicist" video in 2023
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Naomi Melissa McClure-Griffiths
July 11, 1975 Atlanta, Georgia, United States
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| Nationality | American, Australian |
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| Known for | discovering a new arm of the Milky Way |
| Spouse(s) | David McConnell |
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| Doctoral advisor | John Dickey |
Naomi McClure-Griffiths (born July 11, 1975) is an amazing scientist from both America and Australia. She is an astrophysicist, which means she studies space and the things in it, like stars and galaxies. She is also a radio astronomer, using special telescopes to "listen" to signals from space. In 2004, she made a super cool discovery: she found a brand new spiral arm in our very own galaxy, the Milky Way! She has won many important awards for her work, showing how much her discoveries have helped us understand the universe.
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About Naomi McClure-Griffiths
Naomi Melissa McClure-Griffiths was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 11, 1975. She started college at Oberlin College in 1993. There, she studied both French and physics. In 1997, she went to the University of Minnesota to study astrophysics.
Mapping the Milky Way
During her PhD studies, Naomi was part of a big project called the International Galactic Plane Survey. She led the Southern Galactic Plane Survey. This project aimed to map the hydrogen gas in the Milky Way galaxy. Hydrogen gas is very important because it helps us understand how galaxies are formed and how they move.
Moving to Australia
In 2001, Naomi moved to Australia permanently. She started working at the Australia Telescope National Facility. This was a special research position called a CSIRO Bolton Fellowship.
Discovering Cosmic Chimneys
While in Australia, Naomi McClure-Griffiths studied how gases move between stars. She also looked at how huge explosions of stars, called supernovas, create giant bubbles. These bubbles push gases out of the galaxy. She found that these moving gases can create "chimneys" of empty space. These are like tunnels that go through the galaxy. She discovered two of these chimneys. One of them is special because it goes all the way through the top and bottom of the galaxy's main flat part.
Finding a New Spiral Arm
In 2004, Naomi made her most famous discovery. She found a new spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy. Our galaxy is shaped like a spiral, with long arms winding out from the center. This new arm had been seen on older maps, but no one had identified it or given it a name before. Naomi created a special computer model to prove it was really there. Her team then confirmed its existence.
Awards and Recognition
Naomi McClure-Griffiths has received many honors for her amazing work.
- In 2006, she won the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year. This is one of the important Prime Minister's Prizes for Science in Australia.
- That same year, she started a big project called the Galactic All Sky Survey.
- In 2007, she received the Powerhouse Wizard Award from the Powerhouse Museum at the Sydney Observatory.
- In 2011, her team helped with an international effort to map the Milky Way's magnetic fields.
- In 2015, she joined the Australian National University as a professor. She does her research from the Mount Stromlo Observatory.
- Also in 2015, she was given the Pawsey Medal by the Australian Academy of Science for her work in physics.
- In 2021, she received an Australian Laureate Fellowship.
- In 2022, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. This is a very high honor for scientists in Australia.
Naomi McClure-Griffiths continues to help us understand the vast and mysterious universe we live in.
See also
In Spanish: Naomi McClure-Griffiths para niños
