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Nancy Boggess
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Scientific career
ThesisThe structure of NGC 6822 (1967)

Nancy Elizabeth Weber Boggess (1925 – 2019) was an astrophysicist known for her work in developing telescopes that were used in space by NASA.

Early life and education

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Boggess was born in 1925.[1] She attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts where she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and music. She then earned her master's degree in mathematics from Wellesley College. Boggess completed her education at the University of Michigan with a PhD in astronomy.[2]

Career

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Boggess went on to join NASA in 1968[3][4] after Nancy Roman heard Boggess speak at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society and offered Boggess a job.[5][6]: 92  Boggess oversaw grant programs at NASA,[6]: 118–122  including serving as a NASA project scientist[7] for the development and launch of Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), which was able to map the entire night sky in the infrared spectrum.[8][6]: 125, 127, 174, 182  From 1983 until 1984 Boggess worked on the coordinating the development of the Spitzer Space Telescope.[9][10][11] Boggess was the project scientist[12] for the team that developed the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)[13][6]: 200, 205, 234, 255, 269  which earned a Nobel Prize for John C. Mather and George Smoot in Physics in 2006.[14] Under Boggess' guidance, COBE was a combination of multiple instruments that made precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation that was left over from the Big Bang.[15][16]

When Boggess retired, she spent time documenting the migration of birds.[2] Boggess died in 2019.[1]

Selected publications

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  • Mather, J. C.; Cheng, E. S.; Cottingham, D. A.; Eplee, R. E. Jr.; Fixsen, D. J.; Hewagama, T.; Isaacman, R. B.; Jensen, K. A.; Meyer, S. S.; Noerdlinger, P. D.; Read, S. M.; Rosen, L. P.; Shafer, R. A.; Wright, E. L.; Bennett, C. L.; Boggess, N.W.; Hauser, M. G.; Kelsall, T.; Moseley, S.H. Jr.; Silverberg, R.F.; Smoot, G.F.; Weiss, R.; Wilkinson, D.T. (1994-01-01). "Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum by the COBE FIRAS Instrument". The Astrophysical Journal. 420: 439. Bibcode:1994ApJ...420..439M. doi:10.1086/173574. ISSN 0004-637X.
  • Wright, E. L.; Meyer, S. S.; Bennett, C. L.; Boggess, N. W.; Cheng, E. S.; Hauser, M. G.; Kogut, A.; Lineweaver, C.; Mather, J. C.; Smoot, G. F.; Weiss, R.; Gulkis, S.; Hinshaw, G.; Janssen, M.; Kelsall, T. (1992). "Interpretation of the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropy detected by the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer". The Astrophysical Journal. 396: L13. Bibcode:1992ApJ...396L..13W. doi:10.1086/186506. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 119711693.
  • Boggess, N. W.; Mather, J. C.; Weiss, R.; Bennett, C. L.; Cheng, E. S.; Dwek, E.; Gulkis, S.; Hauser, M. G.; Janssen, M. A.; Kelsall, T.; Meyer, S. S.; Moseley, S. H.; Murdock, T. L.; Shafer, R. A.; Silverberg, R. F. (1992). "The COBE mission - Its design and performance two years after launch". The Astrophysical Journal. 397: 420. Bibcode:1992ApJ...397..420B. doi:10.1086/171797. ISSN 0004-637X.

Awards and honors

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In 1997 Wheaton College awarded Boggess with an honorary degree.[17] In 2006 Boggess was among the team members who received the Gruber Prize in Cosmology for their work on COBE.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  2. ^ a b Masegosa, Josefa. "Nancy Boggess, una astrónoma en la NASA | Información y Actualidad Astronómica". revista.iaa.es. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  3. ^ "Inside Gallery 4". www.hq.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  4. ^ "History of Women in Astronomy: Nancy Boggess". 2008-05-13. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  5. ^ Roman, Nancy Grace (2019-08-18). "Nancy Grace Roman and the Dawn of Space Astronomy". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 57 (1): 1–34. Bibcode:2019ARA&A..57....1R. doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-091918-104446. ISSN 0066-4146.
  6. ^ a b c d Boslough, John; Mather, John (2008-10-20). The Very First Light: The True Inside Story of the Scientific Journey Back to the Dawn of the Universe. Basic Books. pp. 118–122. ISBN 978-0-7867-2647-9.
  7. ^ "Space discoveries". The Albuquerque Tribune. 1983-11-10. p. 47. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  8. ^ "Boggess and Low with jet". Niels Bohr Library & Archives. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  9. ^ Werner, Michael; Eisenhardt, Peter (2019-06-25). More Things in the Heavens: How Infrared Astronomy Is Expanding Our View of the Universe. Princeton University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-691-19196-6.
  10. ^ Rieke, George Henry (2006-05-11). The Last of the Great Observatories: Spitzer and the Era of Faster, Better, Cheaper at NASA. University of Arizona Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8165-2558-4.
  11. ^ Werner, Michael (2005). "A Short and Personal History of the Spitzer Space Telescope". arXiv:astro-ph/0503624.
  12. ^ "Rocket launch ends era, begins search for origin of universe". The Baltimore Sun. 1989-11-19. p. 22. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  13. ^ "Boggess Performs Tests with COBE". Niels Bohr Library & Archives. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  14. ^ Brink, Lars (2014-06-02). Nobel Lectures In Physics (2006-2010). World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4612-70-8.
  15. ^ Kragh, Helge; Longair, Malcolm (2019-03-06). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Modern Cosmology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-254997-6.
  16. ^ Sehlstedt, Albert (1993-03-28). "Looking in the sky for evidence of the Big Bang". The Baltimore Sun. p. 36. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  17. ^ Filippo, Thomas San (2011-03-07). "Nancy Weber Boggess, Honorary Degree Recipient". College History. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  18. ^ Wanjek, Christopher (October 4, 2006). "NASA - Spunky Satellite Yields Nobel Prize for NASA Scientist". www3.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  19. ^ "John Mather & the COBE Team | Gruber Foundation". gruber.yale.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
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