{{Short description|American astronomer}} thumb|Boss in 2011 '''Alan P. Boss''' (born in Lakewood, Ohio<ref name="Curr Bio">{{cite book|title=Current Biography Yearbook 2010|date=2010|publisher=H.W. Wilson|location=Ipswich, MA|isbn=9780824211134|pages=[https://archive.org/details/currentbiography2010unse/page/60 60–63]|chapter=Boss, Alan P.|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/currentbiography2010unse/page/60}}</ref><!--CV on home page-->) is a United States theoretical astrophysicist, astronomer, and planetary scientist at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://carnegiescience.edu/bio/dr-alan-p-boss | title=Dr. Alan P. Boss | date=16 August 2024 }}</ref>
==Life and career== Educated in the Physics Departments at the University of South Florida and the University of California, Santa Barbara, Boss is a prominent scientist in stellar and planetary system formation and the study of extrasolar planets who has made highly cited contributions to the study of gas giant planet and binary star system formation. He has published hundreds of articles in these areas and related fields.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://aboss.dtm.carnegiescience.edu/articles | title=Alan P. Boss - Articles }}</ref> He is currently a Staff Member at the Carnegie Institution for Science in the Earth and Planets Laboratory.<ref><https://carnegiescience.edu</ref>
Boss was selected to join the NASA Science Working Group for the Kepler Mission and the NASA External Independent Readiness Board for the Exoplanet Exploration Program, both charged with the detection and characterization of nearby habitable Earth-like planets. He currently chairs the Technology Assessment Committee for NASA's Exoplanet Exoploration Program.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exep/technology/technology-overview/ | title=Exoplanet Program: Technology Overview }}</ref>
==Achievements== Boss received a NASA Group Achievement Award in 2008 for his role in the Astrobiology Roadmap.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-committee/members/dr-alan-p-boss/ | title=NAC Science Committee | publisher=NASA Science | access-date=April 18, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330013800/https://science.nasa.gov/science-committee/members/dr-alan-p-boss/ | archive-date=March 30, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Boss is a fellow of numerous scientific academies and societies, e.g., the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Astronomical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Geophysical Union.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://aboss.dtm.carnegiescience.edu/cv | title=Alan P. Boss - CV }}</ref> Minor Planet (29137) is named Alanboss (1987).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=29137 | title=IAU Minor Planet Center }}</ref>
==Bibliography== * {{cite book | last = Boss | first = Alan | title = Looking for Earths: The Race to Find New Solar Systems | location = New York | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | date = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-471-18421-8 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/lookingforearths00boss }} * {{cite book | last = Boss | first = Alan | title = The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets | publisher = Basic Books | date = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-465-00936-7 }} * {{cite book | last = Boss | first = Alan | title = Universal Life: An Inside Look Behind the Race to Discover Life Beyond Earth | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2019 | isbn = 978-0-190-86405-7 }}
==External links== * {{cite web | url = http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/users/boss/ | title = The Home Page of Alan P. Boss | publisher = Carnegie Institution for Science }} * {{cite web | url = http://discovermagazine.com/2008/whole-universe/12-man-who-made-stars-planets | title = The Man Who Made Stars and Planets | publisher = Discover Magazine}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120328162551/http://www.innovaxiom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=169877 Talk of Alan Boss at the Origins 2011 congress]
==Sources== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boss, Alan}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American astronomers Category:People from Lakewood, Ohio Category:University of South Florida alumni Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Category:NASA astrophysicists Category:American planetary scientists Category:American astrophysicists
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