Anna Frebel | |
|---|---|
Anna Frebel (2022) | |
| Born | 1980 (age 45–46) Berlin, Germany |
| Education | Australian National University |
| Known for | Discovering the oldest stars in the universe |
| Awards | Ludwig Biermann Award Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Workplaces | MIT Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) University of Texas |
| Thesis | Abundance analysis of bright metal-poor stars from the Hamburg/ESO survey (2006) |
| John Edward Norris | |
Other academic advisors | Martin Asplund Michael Stanley Bessell |
Anna Frebel (born 1980 in Berlin) is a German astronomer and author working on discovering the oldest stars in the universe.
Anna Frebel grew up in Göttingen, Germany. After finishing high school, she began studying physics in Freiburg im Breisgau. She moved to Australia, and in 2003 enrolled in an astronomy program in Australia, where she obtained her PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra. Shortly thereafter, a W. J. McDonald Postdoctoral Fellowship brought her to the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, where she continued her studies.
From 2009 to 2011, she was a Clay Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) in Cambridge (MA).
In 2012, she moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, achieving promotion to full professor in 2022. Since 2023, she has been Head of the Astrophysics Division.
In 2005, Frebel discovered the star HE 1327-2326, which is one of the most iron-deficient stars, stemming from a time very shortly after the Big Bang. In 2007, she also discovered the red giant star HE 1523-0901, which is about 13.2 billion years old.
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