Ann Hornschemeier

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Ann Hornschemeier is an American astronomer specializing in X-ray emission from X-ray binary populations.[1] She is the Chief Scientist for the Physics of the Cosmos program at NASA.[1]

Career and research[edit]

She chairs the NuSTAR Starburst and Local Group science working group, which observes seven nearby galaxies[1] and uses high-energy X-rays to search for and take pictures of the densest, hottest and most energetic regions in the universe.[2] At NASA, Hornschemeier researches high energy astrophysics and cosmology.[1] She is involved in future research missions, including the ESA Athena mission due to launch in 2028.[1] Hornschemeier is also an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University.[3]

Hornschemeier specializes in studies of x-ray emission from x-ray binary populations,[4] both in the local universe and at cosmologically interesting distances (z > 0.1). This work is carried out using surveys by space-based x-ray, UV and infrared observatories, alongside ground-based telescopes. She is also the Chief Scientist for the Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) programme,[1] NASA's high energy astrophysics and cosmology programme, and is also heavily involved in future missions as a research scientist at NASA, including co-chairing a science panel for the ESA Athena mission due for launch in 2028.[4]

Hornschemeier is heavily involved in future missions, serving as the NASA Deputy Study Scientist for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, a space-based gravitational wave mission led by the European Space Agency. She works with the Study Scientist and NASA HQ on NASA's scientific and technical contributions to LISA.

Education[edit]

Hornschemeier gained a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2002[5] from Pennsylvania State University; she has a Master of Science in astronomy in Astrophysics[1] also from Pennsylvania State University. She graduated from her Bachelor of Science in physics and mathematics[1] magna cum laude, from Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa).

Awards and honors[edit]

In 2007, she won the American Astronomical Society's Annie Jump Cannon Award, which recognizes women for their outstanding research in astronomy, for her X-ray investigations of distant galaxies.[6] NASA awarded her the Early Career Achievement Medal in 2012, recognising outstanding early career achievement in science, leadership and service.[7] In 2016, she was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.[5]

Family[edit]

Hornschemeier's brother is the artist, author, and director Paul Hornschemeier.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "X-ray Deep: Studying the Universe in X-rays". xraydeep.org. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  2. ^ "NASA Now Minute". NuSTAR. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  3. ^ "NASA - Goddard Space Science Is the Place for Awards This Season". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  4. ^ a b "X-ray Deep: Studying the Universe in X-rays". www.xraydeep.org. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  5. ^ a b "Documents" (PDF). X Ray Deep.
  6. ^ "Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy | American Astronomical Society". aas.org. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  7. ^ "Awards Won - X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory - 662". science.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-26.