# Emily Levesque

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{{short description|American astrophysicist}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2026}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Emily Levesque
| birth_date        = 1984
| birth_place       = [Taunton, Massachusetts](/source/Taunton%2C_Massachusetts), US
| alma_mater        = [MIT](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology)<br/>[University of Hawaii](/source/University_of_Hawaii)
| thesis_title      = Exploring the Environments of Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
| thesis_url        = https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.4418
| thesis_year       = 2010
| doctoral_advisor  = [Lisa Kewley](/source/Lisa_Kewley)
| known_for         = [Astrophysics](/source/Astrophysics)
| awards            = [Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy](/source/Annie_Jump_Cannon_Award_in_Astronomy) <br/> [Sloan Fellowship](/source/Sloan_Fellowship) <br/> [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship) <br/> [Fulbright Fellowship](/source/Fulbright_Fellowship)
| website           = {{URL|http://www.emlevesque.com}}
}}

'''Emily Levesque''' (born 1984<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=16 November 2018|title=About the Author|url=https://thelaststargazers.com/about-the-author/|access-date=|website=thelaststargazers.com}}</ref>) is an American [astronomer](/source/astronomer), author, and associate professor in the Department of Astronomy at the [University of Washington](/source/University_of_Washington).<ref name="depts.washington.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/astron/profile/levesque-emily/|title=University of Washington Department of Astronomy: Emily Levesque|website=depts.washington.edu|access-date=2016-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Emily Levesque – Fulbright US Scholar Award |url=https://fulbright.org.nz/portfolio/emily-levesque-fulbright-us-scholar-award/ |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=fulbright.org.nz |language=en}}</ref> She is known for her work on massive stars and using these stars to investigate [galaxy formation](/source/Galaxy_formation_and_evolution). She is also the author of three books, including the 2020 [popular science](/source/popular_science) book ''The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers''.<ref name="carter">{{cite web|title=The Last Stargazers? Why You Will Never See An Astronomer Looking Through A Telescope|last=Carter|first=Jamie|date=8 August 2020|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/08/08/the-last-stargazers-why-you-will-never-see-an-astronomer-looking-through-a-telescope/|website=Forbes|access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Levesque grew up in [Taunton, Massachusetts](/source/Taunton%2C_Massachusetts).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/astron/spotlight/faculty-spotlight-emily-levesque/|title=Faculty Spotlight: Emily Levesque|access-date=2016-06-15}}</ref> She received her undergraduate degree in physics at [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) in 2006, followed by a PhD in astronomy at the [University of Hawaii](/source/University_of_Hawaii) in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/astron/profile/levesque-emily/|title=Levesque, Emily – Department of Astronomy|access-date=2016-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Alumni (alphabetical listing) |url=https://www2.ifa.hawaii.edu/gradprog/alumni.htm |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy}}</ref>

== Academic career ==
From 2010 to 2015, Levesque was a postdoctoral researcher at [University of Colorado](/source/University_of_Colorado) as an Einstein Fellow from 2010 to 2013, and then received a Hubble Fellowship from 2013 to 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stsci.edu/institute/smo/fellowships/hubble/fellows-list/|title=Listing of all Hubble Fellows 1990–2016|access-date=2016-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cxc.harvard.edu/fellows/allFellowsList.html|title=Einstein, Chandra, and Fermi Fellows|access-date=2016-06-15}}</ref> She has been an assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy at the [University of Washington](/source/University_of_Washington) since 2015.<ref name="depts.washington.edu" />

In 2015, Levesque, [Rachel Bezanson](/source/Rachel_Bezanson), and [Grant R. Tremblay](/source/Grant_R._Tremblay) wrote a [preprint](/source/preprint) which critiqued the use of the [Physics GRE](/source/GRE_Physics_Test) as an admissions cutoff criterion for US astronomy postgraduate programs, by showing there was no statistical correlation between applicant's score and later success in their academic careers.<ref>{{cite arXiv |eprint=1512.03709 |class=physics.ed-ph |first1=Emily M. |last1=Levesque |first2=Rachel |last2=Bezanson |title=Physics GRE Scores of Prize Postdoctoral Fellows in Astronomy |date=2015-12-10 |last3=Tremblay |first3=Grant R.}}</ref><ref name="Astrobites-2016">{{Cite news |date=2016-09-09 |title=The impact of the Physics GRE in astronomy graduate admissions |url=https://astrobites.org/2016/09/09/the-impact-of-the-physics-gre-in-astronomy-graduate-admissions/ |access-date=2017-03-30 |work=Astrobites |language=en-US}}</ref> Subsequently, the [American Astronomical Society](/source/American_Astronomical_Society) adopted the stance that the Physics GRE should not be mandatory for graduate school applications,<ref>{{Cite web |title=President's Column: Rethinking the Role of the GRE {{!}} American Astronomical Society |url=https://aas.org/posts/news/2015/12/presidents-column-rethinking-role-gre |access-date=2017-03-30 |website=aas.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="www.physicsgre.com">{{Cite web |title=Some Astronomy programs dropping Physics GRE requirement – Physics GRE Discussion Forums |url=http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?t=6468 |access-date=2017-03-30 |website=www.physicsgre.com |language=en-gb}}</ref> and many graduate astronomy programs have since removed the Physics GRE as a required part of their graduate school applications.<ref name="Astrobites-2016" /><ref name="www.physicsgre.com" />

== Research ==

[[file:mukyv354.png|thumb|306x306px|Size comparison of [Betelgeuse](/source/Betelgeuse), [Mu Cephei](/source/Mu_Cephei), [KY Cygni](/source/KY_Cygni), and [V354 Cephei](/source/V354_Cephei) according to Emily Levesque's publication<ref>{{cite journal
 | arxiv        = astro-ph/0504337
 | bibcode      = 2005ApJ...628..973L
 | date         = 2005
 | doi          = 10.1086/430901
 | first1       = Emily M.
 | first2       = Philip
 | first3       = K. A. G.
 | first4       = Bertrand
 | first5       = Eric
 | first6       = Andre
 | issn         = 0004-637X
 | issue        = 2
 | journal      = The Astrophysical Journal
 | language     = en
 | last1        = Levesque
 | last2        = Massey
 | last3        = Olsen
 | last4        = Plez
 | last5        = Josselin
 | last6        = Maeder
 | last7        = Georges Meynet
 | pages        = 973–985
 | s2cid        = 15109583
 | title        = The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants: Cool, but Not as Cool as We Thought
 | url          = http://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/628/i=2/a=973
 | volume       = 628
}}</ref>]]
Levesque uses both observations and modeling in her work. In the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum, she uses the [Hubble Space Telescope](/source/Hubble_Space_Telescope) to obtain [spectra](/source/Spectrum) of star-forming galaxies.<ref>{{cite journal
 | arxiv        = 1504.00011
 | bibcode      = 2015ApJ...805..151Z
 | date         = 2015-01-01
 | doi          = 10.1088/0004-637X/805/2/151
 | first1       = Erika
 | first2       = Emily M.
 | first3       = Claus
 | first4       = Charles W.
 | issn         = 0004-637X
 | issue        = 2
 | journal      = The Astrophysical Journal
 | language     = en
 | last1        = Zetterlund
 | last2        = Levesque
 | last3        = Leitherer
 | last4        = Danforth
 | pages        = 151
 | s2cid        = 118991367
 | title        = Ultraviolet ISM Diagnostics for Star-forming Galaxies. I. Tracers of Metallicity and Extinction
 | url          = http://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/805/i=2/a=151
 | volume       = 805
}}</ref> In the optical, she uses the [Gemini](/source/Gemini_Observatory) and [Keck](/source/W._M._Keck_Observatory) observatories on [Mauna Kea](/source/Mauna_Kea) and the [Las Campanas Observatories](/source/Las_Campanas_Observatory) in Chile to study red supergiants in the Milky Way and in the Magellanic Clouds. She has discovered many new [red supergiant](/source/red_supergiant)s, as well as the first candidate for a [Thorne-Zytkow object](/source/Thorne%E2%80%93%C5%BBytkow_object) ([HV 2112](/source/HV_2112)).<ref>{{cite journal
 | arxiv        = 1406.0001
 | bibcode      = 2014MNRAS.443L..94L
 | date         = 2014-09-01
 | doi          = 10.1093/mnrasl/slu080
 | doi-access   = free
 | first1       = Emily M.
 | first2       = Philip
 | first3       = Anna N.
 | first4       = Nidia
 | issn         = 1745-3925
 | issue        = 1
 | journal      = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
 | language     = en
 | last1        = Levesque
 | last2        = Massey
 | last3        = Żytkow
 | last4        = Morrell
 | pages        = L94–L98
 | s2cid        = 119192926
 | title        = Discovery of a Thorne–Żytkow object candidate in the Small Magellanic Cloud
 | volume       = 443
}}</ref>

A 2017 conversation on Twitter between Levesque and fellow astrophysicist Jamie R. Lomax after an [irruption](/source/irruption) of jumping spiders in Levesque's workplace{{where|date=December 2024}} led to informal experiments testing the animals' [visual perception](/source/arthropod_eye). Further information was provided by Nathan Morehouse, a researcher studying spider eyesight at the University of Cincinnati, who calculated that the spiders in question would be able to resolve the disc of the [Moon](/source/Moon). The [cross-discipline](/source/interdisciplinarity) interaction, which was said to constitute part of a suppositional field of 'arachno-astronomy', was lauded as a landmark moment on [Science Twitter](/source/Twitter_usage).<ref>{{cite news
 | access-date  = 2017-06-07
 | first        = Ed
 | language     = en-US
 | last         = Yong
 | title        = Tiny Jumping Spiders Can See the Moon
 | url          = https://theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/jumping-spiders-can-see-the-moon/529329
 | work         = The Atlantic
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |access-date  = 2017-06-09
 |archive-date = June 7, 2017
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20170607221858/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/jumping-spiders-moon-stars-astronomy
 |author-link  = Nadia Drake
 |date         = June 7, 2017
 |first        = Nadia
 |last         = Drake
 |title        = We've Learned Jumping Spiders Can See the Moon, Thanks to Twitter
 |url          = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/jumping-spiders-moon-stars-astronomy
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

== Awards and recognition ==
In 2014, Levesque received the [Annie Jump Cannon Award](/source/Annie_Jump_Cannon_Award_in_Astronomy) for her innovative work on [gamma ray bursts](/source/Gamma-ray_burst).<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Astronomical Society: Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy |url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/annie-jump-cannon-award-astronomy |access-date=2016-06-15 |website=aas.org}}</ref> In 2017, she was awarded a [Sloan Fellowship](/source/Sloan_Fellowship), awarded by the [Alfred P. Sloan Foundation](/source/Alfred_P._Sloan_Foundation) to early-career scholars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2017 Sloan Fellowships |url=https://sloan.org/fellowships/2017-Fellows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708075903/https://sloan.org/fellowships/2017-Fellows |archive-date=2017-07-08 |access-date=2017-03-30}}</ref>

Levesque was awarded a [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship) in April 2022.<ref name="gg-2022-fellows">{{cite web |title=Meet Our 2022 Fellows |url=https://www.gf.org/announcements/ |access-date=April 12, 2022 |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation}}</ref> From March to June of 2023, Levesque worked at the [University of Auckland](/source/University_of_Auckland) as a U.S. [Fulbright scholar](/source/Fulbright_scholar) researching [Thorne–Żytkow objects](/source/Thorne%E2%80%93%C5%BBytkow_object).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Emily Levesque {{!}} Fulbright Scholar Program |url=https://fulbrightscholars.org/grantee/emily-levesque |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=fulbrightscholars.org}}</ref>

Levesque's book ''Understanding Stellar Evolution'', co-written with [Henny Lamers](/source/Henny_Lamers) and based on a series of graduate lectures, was awarded the 2023 [Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award](/source/Chambliss_Astronomical_Writing_Award) by the American Astronomical Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award |url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/chambliss-astronomical-writing-award |access-date=2024-04-04}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last=Levesque | first=Emily | title=The last stargazers : the enduring story of astronomy's vanishing explorers | publication-place=Naperville, Illinois | date=2020 | isbn=978-1-4926-8107-6 | oclc=1125025889}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Lamers |first1=Henny J.G.L.M. |title=Understanding Stellar Evolution |last2=Levesque |first2=Emily M. |publisher=[IOP](/source/IOP_Publishing) |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-7503-1278-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Levesque |first=Emily M. |title=Astrophysics of Red Supergiants |publisher=[IOP](/source/IOP_Publishing) |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-7503-1329-2}}
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8MkJ6TuAUU Emily Levesque's public talk in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levesque, Emily}}
Category:American astrophysicists
Category:University of Washington faculty
Category:MIT School of Science alumni
Category:University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Category:Recipients of the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy
Category:Living people
Category:American women astrophysicists
Category:1984 births
Category:People from Taunton, Massachusetts
Category:Recipients of the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy
Category:21st-century American women

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Emily Levesque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Levesque) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Levesque?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.