Cathie Clarke

{{short description|Astrophysicist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Cathie Clarke | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100}} | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Catherine Jane Clarke | birth_date =  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | home_town = | other_names = | pronounce = | residence = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = Star formation<br>Exoplanets | workplaces = University of Cambridge | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = University of Oxford (DPhil) | thesis_title = Accretion disc structure in binary star and galactic potentials | thesis_url = https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.376904 | thesis_year = 1987 | doctoral_advisor = Geoffrey Bath<ref name=cdphil/> | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = James E. Owen | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Eddington Medal (2017)<ref name="Glynn 2018"/> | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/people/cathie.j.clarke}} }}'''Catherine Jane Clarke''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}} is a Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/Fellows-of-Clare-College/|title=Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge|author=Anon|website=www.clare.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-10-19|archive-date=2020-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808193225/http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/Fellows-of-Clare-College/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017 she became the first woman to be awarded the Eddington Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society. In 2022 she became the first female director of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/people | title=People at the Institute | date=24 January 2023 }}</ref>

==Education== Clarke matriculated in 1980 to study the Natural Sciences tripos at Clare College, Cambridge where she completed her undergraduate education in 1983. She was subsequently educated at the University of Oxford where she received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1987 for research on binary stars supervised by Geoffrey Bath.<ref name=cdphil>{{cite thesis|degree=DPhil|publisher=University of Oxford|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/18538605?style=html|title=Accretion disc structure in binary star and galactic potentials|first= Catherine Jane|last=Clarke|date=1987|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.376904}}|website=copac.jisc.ac.uk|oclc=499843339}}</ref> Her doctoral thesis was titled "Accretion disc structure in binary star and galactic potentials".<ref name="cdphil" />

==Career and research == Clarke studies astrophysical fluid dynamics, including accretion and protoplanetary discs and stellar winds. She was the first to demonstrate how protoplanetary disc formation around low-mass young stars is determined by their radiation field.<ref name="Glynn 2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.staff.admin.cam.ac.uk/awards/2017-eddington-medal-in-astronomy|title=2017 Eddington Medal in Astronomy|first=Thomas|last=Glynn|date=2017|website=www.staff.admin.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref> This removes material from the disc and is integral for various models of planet formation and migration.<ref name="Glynn 2018" /> Clarke uses hydrodynamical simulations to study the physics of photoevaporation.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Labyrinth of Star Formation|last1=Stamatellos|first1=Dimitris|last2=Goodwin|first2=Simon|last3=Ward-Thompson|first3=Derek|date=2014|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9783319030418|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8|url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/1702298}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/111416_en.html|title=Hydrodynamical simulations of protoplanetary discs in the era of ALMA imaging {{!}} Projects {{!}} FP7-IDEAS-ERC {{!}} CORDIS {{!}} European Commission|work=CORDIS {{!}} European Commission|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref>

In 2001 she was awarded the University of Cambridge Pilkington Prize for teaching and learning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cctl.cam.ac.uk/pilkington-prize/prize-winners|title=All Prize Winners|last=Starkey|first=Isabel|date=2016-03-02|website=www.cctl.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411220027/https://www.cctl.cam.ac.uk/pilkington-prize/prize-winners|archive-date=2019-04-11|url-status=dead}}</ref> She co-authored the ''Principles of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics'' textbook with Bob Carswell in 2014.<ref name="Clarke 2014">{{Cite book|title=Principles of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics|last=Clarke|first=Cathie|date=2014|oclc=892455461|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511813450|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107666917|location=Cambridge|language=en}}</ref> It is a primer for the fluid dynamics required to understand astronomical phenomena.<ref name="Clarke 2014" /> She developed the course in 1996, and delivered it as part of Part II Astrophysics between 1996 and 1999.<ref name="Clarke 2014"/> She contributed to the book ''Dynamics of Young Star Clusters and Associations'' in 2015. <ref>{{Cite book|title=Dynamics of young star clusters and associations : Saas-Fee advanced course 42|last=J.|first=Clarke, Cathie|others=Mathieu, Robert D.,, Reid, I. Neill,, Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Astrophysik und Astronomie|isbn=9783662472903|location=Heidelberg|oclc=921176157|date = 2015-09-11}}</ref>

Her recent work has combined analytical observation and hydrodynamical simulations in exoplanet discovery.<ref name="Glynn 2018" /> She demonstrated the first evidence of external disc photoevaporation in a low-mass star in 2017. The star studied was IM Lupi, which was shown to have a CO (carbon monoxide) halo that extends beyond 1,000 AU. <ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haworth|first1=Thomas J.|last2=Facchini|first2=Stefano|last3=Clarke|first3=Cathie J.|last4=Cleeves|first4=L. Ilsedore|date=2017|title=First evidence of external disc photoevaporation in a low mass star forming region: the case of IM Lup|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters|language=en|volume=468|issue=1|pages=L108–L112|doi=10.1093/mnrasl/slx037|doi-access=free |issn=1745-3925|arxiv=1703.03409|bibcode=2017MNRAS.468L.108H|s2cid=56215417}}</ref>

Clarke identified a young star with four planets, the size of Jupiter and Saturn, in orbit around it.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/giant-planets-around-young-star-raise-questions-about-how-planets-form|title=Giant planets around young star raise questions about how planets form|date=2018-10-15|work=University of Cambridge|access-date=2018-10-19|language=en}}</ref> The star, CI Tauri, hosts the first hot Jupiter candidate in a protoplanetary disc system.<ref name="Clarke 2018">{{Cite journal|last1=Clarke|first1=C. J.|last2=Tazzari|first2=M.|last3=Juhasz|first3=A.|last4=Rosotti|first4=G.|last5=Booth|first5=R.|last6=Facchini|first6=S.|last7=Ilee|first7=J. D.|last8=Johns-Krull|first8=C. M.|last9=M. Kama|date=2018|title=High-resolution Millimeter Imaging of the CI Tau Protoplanetary Disk: A Massive Ensemble of Protoplanets from 0.1 to 100 au|journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters|language=en|volume=866|issue=1|pages=L6|doi=10.3847/2041-8213/aae36b|issn=2041-8205|arxiv=1809.08147|bibcode=2018ApJ...866L...6C|s2cid=119042020 |doi-access=free }}</ref> She used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array to search for nearby planets. The closest is in an equivalent orbit to Mercury, whilst the furthest has an orbit three times that of Neptune.<ref name="Clarke 2018" /> The two outer planets are similar masses to the sun.<ref name="Clarke 2018" /> She demonstrated that proximity to nearby stars impacts the lifetime of protoplanetary discs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.physik.uni-heidelberg.de/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/?lang=en|title=Talks, Colloquia|website=www.physik.uni-heidelberg.de|language=EN|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haworth|first1=Thomas J|last2=Facchini|first2=Stefano|last3=Clarke|first3=Cathie J|last4=Mohanty|first4=Subhanjoy|date=2018|title=Where can a Trappist-1 planetary system be produced?|bibcode=2018MNRAS.475.5460H|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|language=en|volume=475|issue=4|pages=5460–5473|doi=10.1093/mnras/sty168|doi-access=free |issn=0035-8711|arxiv=1801.05822|s2cid=119460112}}</ref> She serves as editor of the Elsevier Journal, ''New Astronomy Reviews''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/new-astronomy-reviews/editorial-board/cathie-clarke|title=Cathie Clarke|website=www.journals.elsevier.com|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref> She is a member of the International Astronomical Union.

Clarke's other research interests include self-gravity in disc evolution and formation of brown dwarfs in unstable multiple systems.<ref name="Glynn 2018" />

===Awards and honours=== In 2017, Clarke was awarded the Eddington Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society; she is the first woman to win this medal.<ref name="Glynn 2018"/> She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cathie Clarke |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/cathie-clarke-25121/ |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=royalsociety.org}}</ref>

===Publications===

* {{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Cathie |last2=Carswell |first2=Bob |title=Principles of astrophysical fluid dynamics |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521853316}} * {{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Cathie J. |last2=Mathieu |first2=Robert D. |last3=Reid |first3=I. Neill |author-link2=Robert D. Mathieu |title=Dynamics of young star clusters and associations: Saas-Fee advanced course 42 |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3662472897}}

== References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Cathie}} Category:British astrophysicists Category:British women scientists Category:Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:British fellows of the Royal Society

Cathie Clarke

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