Janine Connes

{{Short description|French astronomer (1926–2024)}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Janine Connes | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Janine Roux | birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|5|19|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|11|28|1926|5|19|df=y}} | death_place = Orsay, France | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | residence = | citizenship = | fields = Astronomy | workplaces = Laboratoire Aimé-Cotton<br>Centre inter-régional de calcul électronique (CIRCÉ) | patrons = | alma_mater = | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = Pierre Jacquinot | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy<br>Connes's advantage | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = | spouse = {{Marriage|Pierre Connes|1951|2019}} | children = }}

'''Janine Connes''' ({{Née|'''Roux'''}}, 19 May 1926 – 28 November 2024) was a French astronomer whose research led to the establishment of the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy method, which was of major significance and laid the foundations of what was to grow into a significant new field.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=CWP at physics.UCLA.edu // Janine Connes|url=http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/Phase2/Connes,_Janine@841234567.html#sip|website=cwp.library.ucla.edu|access-date=2020-05-04}}</ref>

Connes was married to {{III|Pierre Connes|fr}}, a fellow astronomer, until his death in 2019. The couple often conducted research together.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBxRMpQ5ZtwC&dq=Janine+Connes&pg=PT127 |title= The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning |author= James Lovelock |date= 2009 |publisher= Penguin books |isbn= 978-0141039251 |accessdate= 27 March 2014}}</ref> Together with her husband and Robert B. Leighton, they were nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mehlin |first=Hans |date=2024-05-21 |title=Nomination%20Physics%201970%20113-0 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show.php?id=20859&mode= |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Research== The Connes work was primarily in analysing the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique, a field the couple began studying in 1954 in Laboratoire Aimé-Cotton directed by Pierre Jacquinot.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_6tBxNak1lkC&dq=Janine+Connes&pg=PA127 |title= Instrumentation Between Science, State and Industry |publisher= Springer |date= 2001 |author= B. Joerges, T. Shinn |isbn= 0792367367 |page= 127 |accessdate= 27 March 2014}}</ref> Her 1961 thesis and subsequent publications gave in-depth analysis of the practical details necessary for its use, with her thesis credited for establishing many of the early design principles.<ref name="CWP"/><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zT3T5cyZ4zQC&dq=Janine+Connes&pg=PA222 |title= Exploration of the Solar System by Infrared Remote Sensing |date= 2003 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 0521818974 |author= R. A. Hanel |accessdate= 27 March 2014 |page= 222}}</ref>

She collaborated and travelled often to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA.<ref name=":1" /> With her husband Pierre Connes she imaged Venus and Mars at the ''Observatoire du Pic du Midi de Bigorre'' using the method, presenting images far better than others taken at the time.<ref name="CWP">{{cite web |url= http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/Phase2/Connes,_Janine@841234567.html |title= Janine Connes |work= Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics |publisher= University of California |date= 1997 |accessdate= 27 March 2014 |first= Ian |last= McLean}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mUArAAAAYAAJ&dq=Janine+Connes&pg=PA31 |title= Atmospheric Exploration by Remote Probes: Final Report of the Panel on Remote Atmospheric Probing |volume= 2 |publisher= National Academies |date= 1969 |author= National Research Council (U.S.). Panel on Remote Atmospheric Probing |accessdate= 27 March 2014}}</ref> Connes identified the registration advantage of using interferometry.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=bOWUDeiYshsC&dq=Janine+Connes&pg=PA151 |title= Infrared Spectroscopy for Food Quality Analysis and Control |publisher= Academic Press |date= 2009 |author= Da-Wen Sun |isbn= 978-0080920870 |page= 151 |accessdate= 27 March 2014}}</ref> This result is known as Connes's advantage.<ref name=":0" />

She was the founder of the ''Centre inter-régional de calcul électronique'' (CIRCÉ) in Orsay in 1969, attached to the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Décès de Janine Connes |url=http://www.idris.fr/media/annonces/janine_connes_deces.pdf |website=Institut du développement et des ressources en informatique scientifique |language=fr}}</ref> She works there as director of the center until 1982.<ref name=":1" /> She left this position to work as the director of scientific informatics of the CNRS.<ref name=":1" />

Connes died on 28 November 2024, at the age of 98.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 November 2024 |title=Janine Connes obituary |url=https://www.pfg.fr/avis-de-deces/jeannine-connes-23224-24-000982 |access-date=8 December 2024}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

== Awards == She was awarded the Prix Aimé Cotton by the Société Française de Physique in 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prix Aimé Cotton - Société Française de Physique |url=https://www.sfpnet.fr/prix/prix-aime-cotton |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=sfpnet.fr |language=fr}}</ref>

== Publications ==

Source:<ref name=":0" />

*"The Field of Application of the Fourier Transform Method," ''J. Phys. Radium'' '''19''': 197 (1958)

*"A Study of the Night Sky in the Near Infrared," ''J. Phys. Radium'' '''21''': 645 (1960), with H.P. Gush [in French]

*"Near-Infrared Planetary Spectra by Fourier Spectroscopy. I. Instruments and Results," ''Journal of the Optical Society of America'' 56: 896 (1966), with P. Connes [in English]

'''The following four papers are" fundamental works of extreme importance to the field" -- Professor Ian McLean.'''

* "Spectroscopic Studies Using Fourier Transformations," ''Rev. Opt.'' 40 (no.2): 45 (1961) [in French] * "Spectroscopic Studies Using Fourier Transformations," ''Rev. Opt.'' 40 (no.3): 116 (1961) [in French] * "Spectroscopic Studies Using Fourier Transformations," ''Rev. Opt.'' 40 (no.4): 171 (1961) [in French] * "Spectroscopic Studies Using Fourier Transformations," ''Rev. Opt.'' 40 (no.5): 231 (1961) [in French] * "Fourier Transform Spectroscopy: Introductory Report," ''Mem. Soc. Roy. Sci. Liège'' 9: 81 (1964) [in French]

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connes, Janine}} Category:1926 deaths Category:2024 deaths Category:20th-century French astronomers Category:Women physical chemists Category:French physical chemists Category:French women astronomers Category:Spectroscopists Category:20th-century French women physicists