Neta Bahcall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Neta Bahcall
|
|
|---|---|
 Neta A. Bahcall
|
|
| Born | 1942 Mandatory Palestine (now Israel)
|
| Citizenship | Israeli citizenship, American citizenship |
| Known for | Galaxy clusters Dark matter |
| Awards | Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Prize |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Princeton University (1971-1983,1989-present)
Space Telescope Science Institute (1983-1989) California Institute of Technology (1970-1971) |
Neta Bahcall (Hebrew: נטע אסף בקל; born 1942) is a famous scientist from Israel. She is an astrophysicist and cosmologist. This means she studies space, the universe, and how everything in it works.
Neta Bahcall is especially known for her work on dark matter. She also studies how the universe is built, bright objects called quasars, and how galaxies are formed. She is a professor of Astronomy at Princeton University.
Early Life and Education
Neta Assaf Bahcall was born in 1942. When she was growing up in Israel, she first wanted to become a doctor. However, she ended up choosing a different path in science.
She earned her first degree in physics and mathematics in 1963 from Hebrew University in Israel. In 1965, she received her Master's degree in physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Later, in 1970, Bahcall completed her Ph.D. in astrophysics at the University of Tel Aviv.
Her Amazing Career
After finishing her studies, Neta Bahcall started her career in science. From 1970 to 1971, she was a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology. In the same year she got her Ph.D., she began working at Princeton University. She became a full-time astrophysics professor there in 1989.
From 1983 to 1989, she worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Here, she was in charge of choosing which science projects would get to use the amazing Hubble Space Telescope. This was a very important job!
One of her biggest contributions to science was using the Hubble Space Telescope. She used it to map where different galaxies are and how they are shaped. She also made important calculations about how much mass the universe has. This helped scientists understand more about dark matter, which is a mysterious substance that we can't see but know is there because of its gravity.
In 1997, Neta Bahcall was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences. This is a very high honor for scientists in the United States. She has also given many talks, including one at the Nobel Symposium in Sweden in 1998. She was also a vice president of the American Astronomical Society from 1995 to 1998. In 2006, she received an honorary doctorate degree from Ohio State University.
Personal Life
Neta Bahcall was married to John Bahcall. He was also a famous astrophysicist and a professor. They often worked together on scientific papers until he passed away in 2005. Neta and John Bahcall had three children. All of their children also went on to earn doctorates in science, following in their parents' footsteps!
When asked about her beliefs, Neta Bahcall said that she is not very religious but feels very connected to her Jewish heritage. She believes that the laws of physics that created the universe and all its beauty show a connection to God.
Awards and Honors
Neta Bahcall has received many important awards for her work:
- Awarded the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship by the American Astronomical Society in January 2024.
- Elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020.
- The Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Prize from Harvard University in 2013.
- Distinguished Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada from 2009 to 2013.
- Received an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, from Ohio State University in 2006.
- Became a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, in 1997.
See also
In Spanish: Neta Bahcall para niños
