François Mignard
François Mignard (born the 23th of July 1949) is a French astronomer and the director of the CERGA Observatory (French: Centre de recherches en géodynamique et astrométrie) of the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in southern France. He is an expert in space astrometry and Solar System dynamics, and played major roles in the European Space Agency's Hipparcos and Gaia missions.
Training and Career
[edit]After is study's at the Normal Superior School (French: l'École Normale Supérieur) and at the University of Paris, François Mignard joined the CERGA in 1974, then integrated the CNRS has a associate professor in 1975. The same year, he defended his post-graduate thesis on the movement of a satellite with high eccentricity.
[1] Mignard is an active member in several commissions of the International Astronomical Union and chairman of its working group that amends the standards for the International Celestial Reference System.[2]
Major contributions
[edit]François Mignard played a central role in the missions of space Astrometry of the European Space Agency especiallyHipparcos and Gaia missions.
For the Gaia mission, launched in 2013, he was responsible of the European Data Processing Consortium from 2006 to 2012 and is currently a member of Gaia Science Team of ESA, has the main researcher for the french participation.
Awards and affiliations
[edit]In 2019, he received the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) award in astrophysics and space sciences and was awarded by the Academie des Sciences.
He also chaired at the Board of Longitude from 2020 to 2023 and is a member of the Académie de l'air et de l'espace and was elected member of the Académie des Sciences[1] in December 2023.
Honors
[edit]Asteroid 12898 Mignard, discovered by astronomers with the LONEOS program in 1998, was named in his honor.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 July 2002 (M.P.C. 46109).[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "12898 Mignard (1998 RK6)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ "Division A WG Multi-waveband Realisations of International Celestial Reference System". IAU – International Astronomical Union. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
External links
[edit]- François Mignard, active member of the International Astronomical Union