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Sandra M. Faber
Dr. Sandra Faber as a National Medal of Science laureate for 2011. At the presentation ceremony with President Barack Obama of the U.S.A. in 2013.
Sandra Faber accepting the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama in 2013
Born
Sandra Moore

(1944-12-28) December 28, 1944 (age 80)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater Swarthmore College
Harvard University
Known for Faber–Jackson relation, Designing the Keck Observatory
Awards Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics (1985)
National Medal of Science (2011)
Bruce Medal (2012)
Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2017)
Magellanic Premium (2018)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020)
Scientific career
Fields Astronomy
Institutions University of California, Santa Cruz
Lick Observatory
Thesis Photometry of elliptical galaxies in multiple systems (1971)
Doctoral advisor I. John Danziger
Doctoral students
  • Cristina Dalle Ore
  • Tod R. Lauer

Sandra Moore Faber (born December 28, 1944) is an American astrophysicist. She is famous for her work on how galaxies change and grow over time. She is a professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She also works at the Lick Observatory.

Dr. Faber made important discoveries about how bright galaxies are linked to how fast their stars move. She also helped create the Faber–Jackson relation. This is a rule that describes this link. She played a big part in designing the powerful Keck telescopes in Hawaii.

Early Life and Education

Sandra Faber went to Swarthmore College. She studied physics and also learned about mathematics and astronomy. She earned her first degree in 1966.

Then, she went to Harvard University for her advanced studies. She earned her PhD in 1972. A PhD is a very high university degree. She focused on observing stars and galaxies with telescopes. At that time, the Kitt Peak National Observatory was the only one she could use. Its technology was not advanced enough for her complex research.

Personal Life

Sandra Faber married Andrew Leigh Faber on June 9, 1967. He also studied physics at Swarthmore College. They have two daughters named Robin and Holly.

Career and Research

In 1972, Dr. Faber joined the team at the Lick Observatory. This made her the first woman on staff there. In 1976, she noticed a pattern. It was about how bright galaxies are and how fast their stars move. This discovery led to the Faber–Jackson relation. She developed it with her student, Robert Jackson.

A few years later, in 1979, Dr. Faber and John S. Gallagher wrote a paper. It brought together all the evidence for something called dark matter. Dark matter is a mysterious substance that scientists believe makes up a large part of the universe. In 1983, she published new research. It showed that dark matter was not made of fast-moving particles called neutrinos. Instead, she suggested it was made of slow-moving particles. Scientists are still trying to find these particles.

Around 1984, Dr. Faber worked with other scientists. They were Joel Primack, George Blumenthal, and Martin Rees. They developed a theory about how dark matter helps galaxies form and change. This was the first idea of how galaxies grew from the Big Bang until today. Even though some small details have changed, their paper is still a main idea for how structures in the universe form. They also found high-speed flows of galaxies.

Sandra Faber 1988
Sandra Faber in 1988

In 1985, Dr. Faber helped build the Keck Telescope. She also helped create the first camera for the Hubble Space Telescope. This camera was designed to take wide-field pictures. The Keck telescope was designed by Jerry Nelson. But Dr. Faber helped convince people around the world that large telescopes were a good idea. The Keck telescope is one of the biggest optical telescopes. It has a huge mirror made of 36 smaller pieces.

Sandra Faber helped lead the team that worked on the first tools for Keck I. She also made sure the main mirror of Keck I was very high quality. She later worked on the Keck II telescope too.

In the late 1980s, Dr. Faber joined a project called the "Seven Samurai" collaboration. This project lasted eight years. The group tried to measure the size and speed of 400 galaxies. They didn't reach that exact goal. But they found a new way to guess how far away any galaxy is. This became a very reliable way to measure how dense the universe is.

In 1990, she helped set up the wide field planetary camera for the Hubble Space Telescope. She said this was a very exciting part of her career. The Hubble's optics had a problem. Dr. Faber and her team helped figure out the cause. It was a problem called spherical aberration. This means the light wasn't focusing correctly. In 1995, Dr. Faber became a University Professor at UCSC.

Dr. Faber also led the Nuker Team. This team used the Hubble Space Telescope to look for supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. One of her recent projects was adding a new tool to the Keck II telescope in 1996. This new tool made the Keck II much more powerful for seeing distant galaxies. She also joined other scientists to create the CANDELS project. This is the largest survey of the universe ever done by the Hubble Telescope.

At UCSC, her research focuses on how structures in the universe grow. She also studies how galaxies form and change. She led the creation of the DEIMOS instrument for the Keck telescopes. This tool helps get detailed information from faraway galaxies. On August 1, 2012, she became the temporary Director of the University of California Observatories.

Honors and Awards

Sandra Faber has received many awards for her important work:

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Sandra Faber para niños

  • Faber–Jackson relation
  • Hubble Space Telescope
  • Nuker Team
  • List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects
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