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You-Hua Chu

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You-Hua Chu
Born
You-Hua Chu

1953
Taiwan
NationalityTaiwan
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materNational Taiwan University (1975), University of California at Berkeley (1981)
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsInstitute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica; Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Websitehttps://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/people/cv.php?i=yhchu

You-Hua Chu (朱有花, born in 1953) is a Taiwanese astronomer.[1] She has served as the director of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica and the chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her main research areas are interactions between the interstellar medium and stars and observations of planetary systems in the post main sequence stages.

Life

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You-Hua Chu graduated from Taipei First Girls' High School in 1971 and from the Physics Department of National Taiwan University in 1975. In 1981, she obtained a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley.[2]

From 2005 to 2011, she served as chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[3] where she is currently a professor emeritus.[4]

In September 2014, You-Hua Chu became the director of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica. She was the first female astronomer to fill this position.[5]

You-Hua Chu has two daughters and a son.[citation needed]

Honors and awards

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Between 2009 and 2012, You-Hua Chu was president of Division VI (Interstellar Matter) of the International Astronomical Union.[6] She received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Department of Physics in the National Taiwan University in 2016.[7] In February 2021, You-Hua Chu was elected as American Astronomical Society (AAS) Fellow.[8][9] On 16 June 2021, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 461981 "You-Hua Chu" in recognition of her astronomical achievements.[10] During the 2022 Scientific Assembly Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on October 2, the Society presented the 6th Heaven Quest Award to You-Hua Chu. On that occasion, the National Central University presented her the asteroid inscription for her outstanding contributions to astronomical research.[11] In December 2022, You-Hua Chu was elected Fellow of the Physical Society of Taiwan.[12][13] In April 2023, the Canadian Astronomical Society choose her as the 2023 R.M. Petrie Prize Lecturer in view of her strong leadership and expertise.[14]

Research

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You-Hua Chu studies interactions between stars and the interstellar medium, using multi-wavelength observations from radio to gamma rays. For example, stars of different types (massive O-type stars, evolved Wolf-Rayet stars, young white dwarfs) blow a strong wind able to carve bubbles in the interstellar medium. Such bubbles can appear around single (or a few stars) but also around clusters where the collective stellar action creates large structures called "superbubbles" or "supershells". You-Hua Chu has pioneered the studies of such features in several ways. She notably helped identifying them,[15] derived their kinematics with optical spectra to constrain the energy feedback and physics at the interfaces,[16] and analyzed in detail their X-ray emission.[17] In this context, she was the first to report on the presence of X-rays from the central star as well as hot (1.7 MK), diffuse gas associated to Cat's eye planetary nebula.[18]

Her work was publicized in several press releases.[18][19][20][21][22][23]

You-Hua Chu studies the origins of Type Ia supernovae. It is not clear whether Type Ia supernovae originate from the single degenerate scenario or the double degenerate scenario. If a surviving companion or the circumstellar medium from the progenitor’s mass loss is detected, the origin of single degenerate scenario for a Type Ia supernova can be affirmed. You-Hua Chu organized a team to use the Hubble Space Telescope to search for a surviving companion star within Type Ia supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud.[23][24][25] The results show that the single degenerate scenario for Type Ia supernovae can be more prevalent than people previously thought in the Milky Way.

Professional and academic societies

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References

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  1. ^ "Chu, You-Hua". Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Academia Sinica. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  2. ^ "朱有花教授小檔案". ahpst.net.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 29 June 2006.
  3. ^ "A History Of Astronomy at Illinois". astro.illinois.edu. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  4. ^ "You-Hua Chu". Astronomy at Illinois. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  5. ^ "ASIAA - Introduction". www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  6. ^ IAU. "IAU You-Hua Chu membership". IAU member.
  7. ^ "國立臺灣大學物理系首頁". 國立臺灣大學物理學系 (in Chinese). Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  8. ^ "ASIAA - Newsreleases". www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  9. ^ "AAS Names 31 New Fellows for 2021". aas.org. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  10. ^ Minor planet center. "(461981) Chuyouhua = 2006 VO81". Minor planet center. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  11. ^ "| 2022 ASROC Annual Meeting". www.asroc.org.tw. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  12. ^ "ASIAA - Newsreleases". www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  13. ^ Xoops, Bonnie. "2022台灣物理學會各類獎項得獎名單 - 學會公告 - 新聞訊息 - 台灣物理學會". www.ps-taiwan.org (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  14. ^ "CASCA 2023 Petrie lecturer". CASCA.
  15. ^ "Galactic ring nebulae associated with Wolf-Rayet stars. VIII. Summary and atlas". ADS. Bibcode:1983ApJS...53..937C.
  16. ^ "Kinematic Structure of the 30 Doradus Giant H II Region". ADS. Bibcode:1994ApJ...425..720C.
  17. ^ "X-Rays from Superbubbles in the Large Magellanic Cloud". ADS. Bibcode:1990ApJ...365..510C.
  18. ^ a b "Chandra Reveals The X-Ray Glint In The Cat's Eye". CXC.
  19. ^ "Roasted and Shredded by a Stellar Sidekick". CXC.
  20. ^ "Supernova remnant menagerie". HST.
  21. ^ "Hubble studies generations of star formation in neighbouring galaxy". HST.
  22. ^ "Hubble peers inside a celestial geode". HST.
  23. ^ a b "Search for stellar survivor of a supernova explosion". HST.
  24. ^ information@eso.org. "Search for stellar survivor of a supernova explosion". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  25. ^ Chuan-Jui Li; et al. (2017). "Physical Structures of the Type Ia Supernova Remnant N103B". The Astrophysical Journal. 836 (1): 85. arXiv:1701.05852. Bibcode:2017ApJ...836...85L. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/836/1/85.