Bambang Hidayat
Early Life
Bambang Hidayat was born in 1934 in Kudus, Indonesia. He was the oldest of 8 children. He loved the night sky from a young age. He liked to look at stars. He wondered what "shooting stars" were. A book about solar eclipses made him love space even more.
Year born: 1934
Research Areas: Astronomy
"In the performing arts, you must have a prima donna -- in science, you need a prime thinker."
Festivals and Celebrations
Navigation and Wayfinding
Long before maps or GPS, people used the sky to find their way.
Astronomy and Belief
For thousands of years, people around the world have looked to the sky for meaning.
Calendars and Timekeeping
For thousands of years, people have used the sky to track time.
María Teresa Ruiz González
Early Life
Maria was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1946. She fell in love with astronomy after attending a summer school about it. She went on to study astronomy in Chile and was the first person to graduate from this program in 1971. Ruiz earned her PhD in Astrophysics in 1975 and became the first woman to earn a PhD from Princeton.
Career highlights
Maria held a research post at the Trieste Observatory between 1975 and 1976 while doing her PhD. She also worked for two years at the Institute of Astronomy at UNAM in Mexico.
Year born: 1946
Research Areas: Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets
Legesse Wetro
Early Life
Legesse Wetro was born in Cire, a small town in Ethiopia. In 1967, he started studying physics at Addis Ababa University. There, he joined a Christian student group and enjoyed singing in the church choir. After his first degree in 1972, he stayed to teach physics. But Legesse wanted to learn more. He earned a master's degree from the University of Sheffield, UK, and a PhD in astrophysics from the University of California, US. Through all this time, he also wrote many gospel songs that people still enjoy today.
Year born: 1950
Research Areas: Astrophysics, Pulsars, Geophysics, Magnetic Fields
Maram Kaire
Early Life
Maram Kaire was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1978. Since he was 12, he has been interested in astronomy. He read books about space and even built a telescope at the age of 14! At the time, astronomy was not popular in Senegal.
There weren't many jobs or courses in the field. His parents did not want him to study space, so he chose computer science instead. Later, he moved to France to study Systems and Network Engineering. After that, he returned to Senegal to inspire his country's interest in space.
Year born: 1978
Research Areas: Space missions coordination, asteroids, and education
"Space is open for everyone; it belongs to everyone."
Joyful Mdhluli
Early Life
Joyful Mdhluli grew up in Mpumalanga, South Africa. She is proud to be the first person in her family to attend university. Joyful earned her Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degrees from the University of Witwatersrand.
At first, she wasn't sure if she wanted to become a physicist. But, during her Master's studies, she realised that a career in physics would help her reach her full potential.
Year born: 1992
Research Areas: Astronomy for Mental Health, Experimental Physics, Particle Physics, Material Science
Víctor Manuel Blanco
Early Life
Víctor Manuel Blanco was born in Guyana on March 10th, 1918. He took an interest in astronomy from a young age. He built a telescope in his backyard and even named his pigs after asteroids!
At first, he was studying to become a doctor, but after taking an astronomy course, he realised he wanted to be an astronomer.
Year born: 1918
Research Areas: Stellar populations