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) was born in 1942. She is an Israeli astrophysicist and cosmologist. She studies important topics like dark matter, how the universe is built, quasars, and how galaxies form.

Professor Bahcall is currently the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University.

Early Life and Education

Neta Assaf Bahcall was born in 1942. When she was a child growing up in Israel, she first wanted to become a doctor. However, she later chose a different path.

She earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in physics and mathematics from Hebrew University in Israel in 1963. 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.

Career in Space Science

From 1970 to 1971, Dr. Bahcall worked as a research fellow in physics at the California Institute of Technology. In the same year she finished her Ph.D., she started working at Princeton University. She has been a full-time astrophysics professor there since 1989.

Between 1983 and 1989, she held important roles at the Space Telescope Science Institute. She was the chief of the General Observer Support Branch. She also led the Science Program Selection Office. In this role, she helped decide which science projects would get to use the amazing Hubble Space Telescope. From 2000 to 2008, she was also the director of the Council on Science and Technology at Princeton.

Discoveries with the Hubble Space Telescope

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, Dr. Bahcall has created maps of where different galaxies are located. She has also studied how these galaxies are structured. One of her most important contributions to astrophysics was figuring out the total mass of the universe.

In 1997, Dr. 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 talks at many important events, including the Nobel Symposium in Stockholm in 1998. She was a longtime member and 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 until his death in 2005. John was also an astrophysicist and a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. They often worked together on research. They published more than 20 scientific papers as co-authors. Neta and John Bahcall had three children. All of their children also earned advanced degrees in science.

When asked about her beliefs, Dr. Bahcall shared that she is not very religious but feels a strong connection to her Jewish heritage. She explained that she sees a link between her scientific work and questions about God. She believes that the laws of physics that created the universe, and the great beauty found in it, show a connection to God.

Awards and Honors

• 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, Harvard University (2013)
• Distinguished Research Chair, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ontario, Canada (2009 -2013)
• Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, Ohio State University (2006)
• Member, National Academy of Sciences, USA (elected 1997)

Images for kids

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  Neta A. Bahcall

See also

In Spanish: Neta Bahcall para niños