Victoria Kaspi
Encyclopedia
Victoria Michelle "Vicky" Kaspi (born June 30, 1967) is an American/Canadian astrophysicist, a professor at McGill University
. Her research primarily concerns neutron star
s and pulsar
s.
, but her family moved to Canada when she was seven years old. She completed her undergraduate studies at McGill in 1989, and went to Princeton University
for her graduate studies, completing her Ph.D. in 1993 under the supervision of Nobel prize
-winning astrophysicist Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.
After positions at the California Institute of Technology
, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, she took a faculty position at McGill in 1999. At McGill, she held one of McGill's first Canada Research Chairs, and in 2006 she was named the Lorne Trottier Professor of Astrophysics. She is also a Fellow
in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
.
Her husband, David Langleben, is a cardiologist at McGill and the chief of cardiology at Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital
in Montreal.
G11.2−0.3 in the constellation Sagittarius
, using the Chandra X-ray Observatory
, showed that the pulsar was at the precise center of the supernova, which had been observed in 386 CE by the Chinese. This pulsar was only the second known pulsar to be associated with a supernova remnant, the first being the one in the Crab Nebula
, and her studies greatly strengthened the conjectured relationship between pulsars and supernova
e. Additionally, this observation cast into doubt previous methods of dating pulsars by their spin rate; these methods gave the pulsar an age that was 12 times too high to match the supernova.
Kaspi's research with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
showed that soft gamma repeater
s, astronomical sources of irregular gamma ray
bursts, and anomalous X-ray pulsar
s, slowly rotating pulsars with high magnetic field
s, could both be explained as magnetar
s.
She has also helped discover the pulsar with the fastest known rotation rate, PSR J1748-2446ad, star clusters with a high concentration of pulsars, and (using the Green Bank Telescope
) the "cosmic recycling" of a slow-spinning pulsar into a much faster millisecond pulsar
.
of the American Astronomical Society
in 1998, the Herzberg Medal
of the Canadian Association of Physicists
in 2004, the Steacie Prize
in 2006, the Rutherford Memorial Medal
of the Royal Society of Canada
in 2007, and the Prix Marie-Victorin
, the highest scientific award of the province of Québec, in 2009. In 2010, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society
.
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. Her research primarily concerns neutron star
Neutron star
A neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
s and pulsar
Pulsar
A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
s.
Biography
Kaspi was born in Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, but her family moved to Canada when she was seven years old. She completed her undergraduate studies at McGill in 1989, and went to Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
for her graduate studies, completing her Ph.D. in 1993 under the supervision of Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning astrophysicist Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. is an American astrophysicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his discovery with Russell Alan Hulse of a "new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation."...
After positions at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, she took a faculty position at McGill in 1999. At McGill, she held one of McGill's first Canada Research Chairs, and in 2006 she was named the Lorne Trottier Professor of Astrophysics. She is also a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research enables Canadian researchers to work on international research teams that are custom built to transform their fields of study...
.
Her husband, David Langleben, is a cardiologist at McGill and the chief of cardiology at Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital
Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital
The Jewish General Hospital is an acute-care McGill University teaching hospital with 637 beds, serving patients from Montreal, from across the province of Quebec and around the world.The Jewish General...
in Montreal.
Research
Kaspi's observations of the pulsar associated with supernova remnantSupernova remnant
A supernova remnant is the structure resulting from the explosion of a star in a supernova. The supernova remnant is bounded by an expanding shock wave, and consists of ejected material expanding from the explosion, and the interstellar material it sweeps up and shocks along the way.There are two...
G11.2−0.3 in the constellation Sagittarius
Sagittarius
Sagittarius may refer to:Astrology* Sagittarius , a Zodiac sign.Astronomy:* Sagittarius , corresponding to the astrological sign...
, using the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Chandra X-ray Observatory
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a satellite launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. It was named in honor of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is known for determining the maximum mass for white dwarfs. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit.Chandra...
, showed that the pulsar was at the precise center of the supernova, which had been observed in 386 CE by the Chinese. This pulsar was only the second known pulsar to be associated with a supernova remnant, the first being the one in the Crab Nebula
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus...
, and her studies greatly strengthened the conjectured relationship between pulsars and supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
e. Additionally, this observation cast into doubt previous methods of dating pulsars by their spin rate; these methods gave the pulsar an age that was 12 times too high to match the supernova.
Kaspi's research with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer is a satellite that observes the time structure of astronomical X-ray sources. The RXTE has three instruments—the Proportional Counter Array, the High-Energy X-ray Timing Experiment , and one instrument called the All Sky Monitor...
showed that soft gamma repeater
Soft gamma repeater
A soft gamma repeater is an astronomical object which emits large bursts of gamma-rays and X-rays at irregular intervals. It is conjectured that they are a type of magnetar or, alternatively, neutron stars with fossil disks around them....
s, astronomical sources of irregular gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
bursts, and anomalous X-ray pulsar
Anomalous X-ray pulsar
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars are now widely believed to be magnetars—young, isolated, highly magnetized neutron stars. These energetic X-ray pulsars are characterized by slow rotation periods of ~2–12 seconds and large magnetic fields of ~1013–1015 gauss . There are currently 9 known and 1 candidate...
s, slowly rotating pulsars with high magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
s, could both be explained as magnetar
Magnetar
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field, the decay of which powers the emission of copious high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays...
s.
She has also helped discover the pulsar with the fastest known rotation rate, PSR J1748-2446ad, star clusters with a high concentration of pulsars, and (using the Green Bank Telescope
Green Bank Telescope
The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope and the world's largest land-based movable structure. It is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory site at Green Bank, West Virginia, USA. The telescope honors the name of the late Senator...
) the "cosmic recycling" of a slow-spinning pulsar into a much faster millisecond pulsar
Millisecond pulsar
A millisecond pulsar is a pulsar with a rotational period in the range of about 1-10 milliseconds. Millisecond pulsars have been detected in the radio, X-ray, and gamma ray portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The origin of millisecond pulsars is still unknown...
.
Awards and honours
Kaspi won the Annie J. Cannon Award in AstronomyAnnie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy
The Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society to a woman resident of North America, who is within five years of receipt of a Ph.D., for distinguished contributions to astronomy or for similar contributions in related sciences which have immediate...
of the American Astronomical Society
American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC...
in 1998, the Herzberg Medal
Gerhard Herzberg
Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg, was a pioneering physicist and physical chemist, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971, "for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals". Herzberg's main work concerned...
of the Canadian Association of Physicists
Canadian Association of Physicists
The Canadian Association of Physicists , or in French Association canadienne des physiciens et physiciennes is a Canadian professional society that focuses on creating awareness amongst Canadians and Canadian legislators of physics issues, sponsoring physics related events, and publishes Physics...
in 2004, the Steacie Prize
Edgar William Richard Steacie
Edgar William Richard Steacie, O.B.E. was a Canadian physical chemist and president of the National Research Council of Canada from 1952 to 1962....
in 2006, the Rutherford Memorial Medal
Rutherford Memorial Medal
The Rutherford Memorial Medal is an award for research in the fields of physics and chemistry by the Royal Society of Canada. It was dedicated to the memorial of Ernest Rutherford.-Physics:* 2010 : Kari Dalnoki-Veress* 2009 : Barth Nettlefield...
of the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 2007, and the Prix Marie-Victorin
Prix Marie-Victorin
The Prix Marie-Victorin is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, which "goes to researchers in the pure and applied sciences whose work lies in fields outside biomedicine. These fields include the natural and physical sciences, engineering, and technology, and the...
, the highest scientific award of the province of Québec, in 2009. In 2010, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.