Penny Sackett facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Penny Sackett
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | 28 February 1956 |
| Nationality | American, Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh |
| Known for | work on a microlensing technique to hunt for extrasolar planets |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Australian National University |
Penny Diane Sackett, born on February 28, 1956, is an astronomer from both America and Australia. She used to lead the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU). From 2008 to 2011, Professor Sackett also served as Australia's Chief Scientist.
Early Life and Education
Penny Sackett grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Her dad was an accountant and her mom worked with business machines. From a young age, Penny was very interested in science. She first thought about studying biology and medicine.
Even though she wasn't keen on physics at first, her high school physics teacher helped her discover a love for it. She went to the University of Nebraska at Omaha and graduated with top honors in 1978. Later, in 1984, she earned her PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Pittsburgh.
A Career in Science
Before becoming a famous astronomer, Penny Sackett worked as a reporter for Science News. She also helped manage programs for the National Science Foundation. She held important positions at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute and the Institute for Advanced Study.
From 2002, Penny Sackett was the director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU. She led this school for five years. In this role, she was in charge of two big observatories: Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra and Siding Spring Observatory in Coonabarabran.
After bushfires damaged the Mount Stromlo Observatory in 2003, Penny Sackett was responsible for rebuilding it. This was a tough job because of disagreements with insurance companies and the observatory's special heritage status.
In 2008, Penny Sackett was chosen to be the Chief Scientist of Australia. This is a very important job where she advised the government on science. She was the first person to hold this role full-time since 1996. The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr, praised her as a respected scientist. Penny Sackett left the Chief Scientist role in 2011.
Research and Discoveries
Even though she studied physics, Penny Sackett is an astronomer by profession. She also loves to teach and is certified to teach science to kids.
Her research focuses on exciting topics like extrasolar planets, which are planets outside our solar system. She was a pioneer in using a method called gravitational microlensing to find these distant planets. She also studied dark matter and the structure of galaxies.
In 2006, Penny Sackett was part of a large team of astronomers from many countries. They discovered a small, cool planet called OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb. This planet orbits a star in the inner part of our own Milky Way galaxy.
Penny Sackett is a member of many important science groups. She is an International Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. She is also on the board of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. She helped start a project called PLANET (Probing Lensing Anomalies Network) in 1995. This project uses a network of telescopes to search for planets. She has also worked as an ambassador to encourage high school students to study science.
See also
