Early life
Luu was born in 1963 in
South VietnamSouth Vietnam refers to a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
to a father who worked as a translator for the U.S. Army. Her father taught her
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories...
as a child, beginning her lifelong love of languages.
Luu immigrated to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D...
as a refugee in 1975, when the South Vietnamese government fell. She and her family settled in
KentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth . Originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 it became the...
, where she had relatives. A visit to the
Jet Propulsion LaboratoryJet 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 located in the City of La Canada Flintridge near the northern border of Pasadena...
inspired her to study astronomy. She attended
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States. The university was founded in 1891 by the Californian railroad tycoon Leland Stanford and named for his recently deceased...
, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1984.
Work as a graduate student and co-discovery of the Kuiper Belt
As a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley and the
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe 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 research...
, she worked with
David C. JewittDavid C. Jewitt is a Professor of astronomy formerly at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, now at UCLA. He was born in 1958 in England, and is a 1979 graduate of the University of London. Jewitt received an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in...
to discover the
Kuiper BeltThe Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 55 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger—20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive...
. In 1992, after five years of observation, they found the first known Kuiper Belt object, using the
University of HawaiiThe University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
's 2.2 meter telescope on
Mauna KeaMauna Kea is an inactive volcano in the U.S. state of Hawaii, one of five volcanoes which together form the island of Hawaii...
. This object is
(15760) 1992 QB1', also written 1992 QB1, was the first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered after Pluto and Charon. It was discovered in 1992 and is now classified as a cubewano, an object in the main Kuiper Belt. The term cubewano derives from "QB1"....
, which she and Jewitt nicknamed "Smiley". The
American Astronomical SocietyThe American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC...
awarded Luu the
Annie J. Cannon Award in AstronomyThe 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...
in 1991. In 1992, Luu received a Hubble Fellowship from the
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States...
. The
asteroidthumb|260px|right|[[253 Mathilde]], a [[C-type asteroid]] measuring about across. Photograph taken in 1997 by the [[NEAR Shoemaker]] probe.Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are...
5430 Luu5430 Luu is a main-belt asteroid discovered on May 12, 1988 by C. S. Shoemaker at Palomar.- External links :*...
is named in her honor.
Professional life
After receiving her doctorate, Luu worked as a professor at
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a member of the Ivy League...
. Luu also served as a professor at
Leiden UniversityLeiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and water borders with...
. Following her time in Europe, Luu returned to the United States and works on instrumentation as a technical staff member at
Lincoln LaboratoryMIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and development activities focus on long-term technology development as well as...
at MIT.
In December 2004, Luu and Jewitt reported the discovery of crystalline water ice on
Quaoar50000 Quaoar is a binary trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet candidate orbiting the Sun in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered on June 4, 2002 by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at the California Institute of Technology from images acquired at the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar...
, which was at the time the largest known Kuiper Belt object. They also found indications of ammonia hydrate. Their report theorized that the ice likely formed underground, becoming exposed after a collision with another Kuiper Belt object sometime in the last few million years.
Asteroids co-discovered by Luu
Luu has co-discovered a number of asteroids:
- 10370 Hylonome
10370 Hylonome is an asteroid orbiting in the outer solar system. It belongs to the class of icy planetoids that are known as centaurs, with an orbit that crosses the orbits of Neptune and Uranus...
- (15760) 1992 QB1
', also written 1992 QB1, was the first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered after Pluto and Charon. It was discovered in 1992 and is now classified as a cubewano, an object in the main Kuiper Belt. The term cubewano derives from "QB1"....
- (15809) 1994 JS
1994 JS is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the Kuiper belt beyond Pluto. It is in a 3:5 orbital resonance with Neptune.-References:...
- (15836) 1995 DA2
', also written as 1995 DA2, is a trans-Neptunian object. It was discovered on February 24, 1995 by David C. Jewitt and Jane X. Luu at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.-Resonance:...
- (15874) 1996 TL66
' is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the scattered disc. The Spitzer Space Telescope has estimated this object to be about 575km in diameter, and qualifies this object as dwarf planet candidate...
- (15875) 1996 TP66
', also written as 1996 TP66, is a trans-Neptunian object residing in the Kuiper belt. It is in a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune similar to Pluto. It was discovered on October 11, 1996 by Chad Trujillo, David C. Jewitt, and Jane X...
- (19308) 1996 TO66
' is a trans-Neptunian object. It was discovered in 1996 by Chadwick A. Trujillo, David C. Jewitt and Jane X...
- (20161) 1996 TR66
', also written as 1996 TR66, is a Trans-Neptunian object orbiting beyond Pluto in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered on October 8, 1996 by David C. Jewitt, Chad Trujillo, Jane X...
- (24952) 1997 QJ4
1997 QJf, also written as 1997 QJ4 is a plutino, so it has a 2:3 resonance with Neptune, similar to Pluto. It has a perihelion at 30.463 AU and an aphelion at 48.038 AU, so it is in a relatively eccentric orbit. It has a diameter of 139 km, so it is unlikely to be classified as a...
- (24978) 1998 HJ151
', also written as 1998 HJ151, is a cubewano. It has a perihelion at 41.339 AU and an aphelion at 45.889 AU. It has a diameter of about 139 km. It was discovered on April 28, 1998 by Jane X. Luu, Chadwick A. Trujillo, David J. Tholen and David C. Jewitt.-References:...
- (26375) 1999 DE9
' is an object of the solar system located beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was discovered in 1999 by Chad Trujillo and Jane X. Luu....
- (33001) 1997 CU29
', also written as 1997 CU29 is a cubewano. It has a perihelion at 41.660 AU and an aphelion of 45.134 AU. is about 211 km in diameter. It was discovered on February 6, 1997 by David C. Jewitt, Jane X. Luu, Chad Trujillo, and Jun Chen at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.-References:...
- (58534) 1997 CQ29
- (59358) 1999 CL158
', also written as 1999 CL158, is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered on February 11, 1999 by Jane X. Luu, Chad Trujillo, and David C...
- (60608) 2000 EE173
- 66652 Borasisi
66652 Borasisi , provisionally known as , is a trans-Neptunian object discovered in 1999 by A. Trujillo, J. Luu and D. Jewitt and identified as binary in 2003 by K...
- (79360) 1997 CS29
, also written as 1997 CS29, is a double cubewano. It was discovered on February 3, 1997 by Jane X. Luu, David C. Jewitt, Chad Trujillo, and Jun Chen at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii...
- (79969) 1999 CP133
', also written as 1999 CP133, is a trans-Neptunian object. It was discovered on February 11, 1999 by Chad Trujillo, Jane X. Luu, and David C. Jewitt at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.It is in a 4:5 orbital resonance with the planet Neptune....
- (79978) 1999 CC158
', also written as 1999 CC158, is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the scattered disc region of the Solar System. It was discovered on February 15, 1999 at the Mauna Kea Observatory, HawaiiIt has a 12:5 resonance with Neptune....
- (79983) 1999 DF9
', also written as 1999 DF9, is a cubewano. It travels in a highly eccentric orbit which has a perihelion at 39.797 AU and an aphelion at 53.264 AU. It is about 265 km in diameter. It was discovered on February 20, 1999 by Jane X. Luu, Chadwick A. Trujillo and David C...
Personal life
Luu enjoys traveling, and has worked for
Save the ChildrenSave the Children is an international organization helping children in need around the world. It was established in the United Kingdom in 1919...
in
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and, as of 2010, the world's most recent nation to become a republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. She enjoys a variety of outdoor activities and plays the cello. She met her husband, Ronnie Hoogerwerf, who is also an astronomer, while in
LeidenLeiden is a city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. Its number of inhabitants is about 118,000. The single urban area it forms together with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten, Valkenburg, Rijnsburg and Katwijk, has a number of about 254,000 inhabitants...
.
External links