Particle.news
Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
last yr.

Michele Dougherty Appointed First Woman Astronomer Royal

An executive chair of the STFC who leads ESA’s JUICE magnetometer mission now takes on the honorary royal science advisory position

Image
Image
Michele Dougherty on the terrace at Imperial College London, where she has worked since 1991

Overview

  • Professor Michele Dougherty was formally approved by the King on July 29, 2025, succeeding Lord Martin Rees after his 30-year tenure as Astronomer Royal.
  • The Astronomer Royal role was founded in 1675 to aid longitude calculations at sea and has been an honorary royal household title since 1972.
  • She rose to prominence in 2005 when her analysis of Cassini data revealed water vapour plumes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, highlighting its potential habitability.
  • As principal investigator for the magnetometer aboard ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, she is leading the search for a subsurface ocean on Ganymede.
  • Dougherty continues to shape UK research as executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, president-elect of the Institute of Physics and professor of space physics at Imperial College London.