Sara Seager facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sara Seager
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Seager at a 2016 conference
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| Born | 21 July 1971 |
| Nationality | Canadian–American |
| Citizenship | Canada–United States |
| Education | University of Toronto (BSc) Harvard University (PhD) |
| Known for | Search for extrasolar planets |
| Spouse(s) | Charles Darrow |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Order of Canada (2020, Officer) MacArthur Fellowship (2013) Helen B. Warner Prize (2007) Harvard Book Prize in Astronomy (2004) NSERC Science and Technology Fellowship (1990–1994) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy Planetary science |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007–) Carnegie Institution of Washington (2002–2006) Institute for Advanced Study (1999–2002) |
| Thesis | Extrasolar giant planets under strong stellar irradiation (1999) |
| Doctoral advisor | Dimitar Sasselov |
Sara Seager (born July 21, 1971) is a Canadian-American astronomer and planetary scientist. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Sara Seager is famous for her work on extrasolar planets, also known as exoplanets. These are planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. She studies their atmospheres and tries to find out what they are made of.
Professor Seager has written two important books about exoplanets. Her research has been featured in popular magazines like Popular Science and Discover Magazine. In 2013, she received a special award called the MacArthur Fellowship. This award recognized her ideas for finding signs of life on exoplanets. She also works on building low-cost space telescopes. These telescopes help us watch planets as they pass in front of their stars, which is called a planetary transit.
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About Sara Seager
Sara Seager was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her father, David Seager, was a leader in hair transplantation. He founded the Seager Hair Transplant Center in Toronto.
She studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Toronto. She earned her Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1994. Later, she received her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in astronomy from Harvard University in 1999. Her PhD work focused on creating models for the atmospheres of exoplanets.
After her PhD, she worked at the Institute for Advanced Study and the Carnegie Institution for Science. In 2007, she joined MIT. She became a full professor there in 2010. She is married to Charles Darrow and has two sons.
Exploring Exoplanets
Sara Seager's main research goal is to find and study exoplanets. She is especially interested in finding "Earth analogs." These are planets similar to Earth that might be able to support life. NASA has even called her "an astronomical Indiana Jones" because of her exciting discoveries.
She has used the term "gas dwarf" to describe certain types of planets. These planets are smaller than gas giants but have thick atmospheres made mostly of hydrogen and helium. She also helped predict that "carbon planets" might exist. These are planets where carbon is a major building block.
Professor Seager has led a team for a NASA mission called "Starshade." This mission would use a special screen to block the bright light from a distant star. This way, telescopes could see the much fainter light from an exoplanet orbiting that star. This helps scientists study exoplanets more clearly.
Since 2020, Sara Seager has also been studying Venus. Her team is looking for signs of life in Venus's upper atmosphere. They are especially interested in a gas called phosphine, which could be a sign of living things.
The Seager Equation
Sara Seager created her own version of the Drake equation. The original Drake equation tries to guess how many intelligent civilizations might exist in our galaxy. Seager's equation focuses on finding any kind of alien life that we could detect from Earth.
Her equation looks for planets that have "biosignature gases." These are gases made by living things that can build up in a planet's atmosphere. If there's enough of these gases, we might be able to spot them with powerful space telescopes.
The equation looks like this:
Here's what each part means:
- N = the number of planets where we can find signs of life.
- N* = the number of stars we are observing.
- FQ = the fraction (or percentage) of stars that are quiet and stable.
- FHZ = the fraction of stars that have rocky planets in the "habitable zone." This is the area around a star where temperatures are just right for liquid water to exist.
- FO = the fraction of stars with planets that we can actually observe.
- FL = the fraction of planets that actually have life.
- FS = the fraction of life forms that create gases in the atmosphere that we can detect.
ASTERIA Spacecraft
Sara Seager was the main scientist for the ASTERIA spacecraft. ASTERIA was a small satellite, about the size of a briefcase. It was designed to take very precise measurements of starlight. This helped scientists search for exoplanets.
ASTERIA was a team effort between MIT and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was launched into space from the International Space Station in November 2017. The spacecraft worked successfully until April 2020.
Venus Life Finder
In 2020, Professor Seager led a team that proposed a new mission called Venus Life Finder. This mission would send a small spacecraft to Venus. Its goal is to investigate if there could be life in the clouds of Venus.
This mission is being funded by private groups. It plans to launch in January 2025 using a Rocket Lab Electron rocket.
Awards and Recognition
Sara Seager has received many important awards for her work:
- In 2007, she won the Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy. This was for her new ways of understanding and finding the atmospheres of exoplanets.
- In 2012, she was given the Sackler Prize for her studies of exoplanet atmospheres and what they are made of inside.
- In September 2013, she became a MacArthur Fellow. This is a very prestigious award.
- In 2020, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. This is one of Canada's highest honors.
- She won the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology for her book The Smallest Lights in the Universe.
- In 2024, Sara Seager was awarded the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics.
See also
In Spanish: Sara Seager para niños
- List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects
