{{short description|American astrophysicist}} '''Robin M. Canup''' (born November 20, 1968) is an American [[planetary scientist]]. Her main area of research concerns the origins of planets and satellites.<ref>[http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~robin/ Southwest Research Institute profile], boulder.swri.edu; accessed March 9, 2015.</ref> In 2003, Canup was awarded the [[Harold C. Urey Prize]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dps.aas.org/prizes/urey |title=Harold C. Urey Prize in Planetary Science |website=Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society |access-date=2015-01-12}}</ref> In April, 2022, Canup presented the findings of the [[Planetary Science Decadal Survey]] as co-chair of the Survey Steering Committee with [[Philip R. Christensen]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/planetary-science-and-astrobiology-decadal-survey-2023-2032 | title=Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023 2032 | National Academies }}</ref>
==Biography== She received her B.S. from [[Duke University]] and her PhD from the [[University of Colorado at Boulder]].
Canup is known for her research based upon the [[giant impact hypothesis]], using intensive modeling to simulate how planetary collisions unfold.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/35089010| issn = 0028-0836| volume = 412| issue = 6848| pages = 708–712| last1 = Canup| first1 = Robin M.| last2 = Asphaug| first2 = Erik| title = Origin of the Moon in a giant impact near the end of the Earth's formation| journal = Nature| date = 2001-08-16| pmid=11507633| bibcode = 2001Natur.412..708C| s2cid = 4413525}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1006/icar.1999.6201| issn = 0019-1035| volume = 142| issue = 1| pages = 219–237| last1 = Agnor| first1 = Craig B.| last2 = Canup| first2 = Robin M.| last3 = Levison| first3 = Harold F.| title = On the Character and Consequences of Large Impacts in the Late Stage of Terrestrial Planet Formation| journal = Icarus| date = 1999| bibcode=1999Icar..142..219A| s2cid = 28238627}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.028| issn = 0019-1035| volume = 168| issue = 2| pages = 433–456| last = Canup| first = Robin M.| title = Simulations of a late lunar-forming impact| journal = Icarus| date = 2004| bibcode=2004Icar..168..433C}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1146/annurev.astro.41.082201.113457| volume = 42| issue = 1| pages = 441–475| last = Canup| first = Robin M.| title = Dynamics of Lunar Formation| journal = Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics| date = 2004| bibcode=2004ARA&A..42..441C}}</ref> In 2012, Canup first published a refinement to the giant impact hypothesis, arguing that the Moon and the Earth formed in a series of steps that started with a massive collision of two planetary bodies, each larger than Mars, which then re-collided to form what we now call Earth.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Forming a Moon with an Earth-like Composition via a Giant Impact |first=Robin M. |last=Canup |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=338 |issue=6110 |pages=1052–1055 |date=2012-11-23 |doi=10.1126/science.1226073|pmc=6476314 |pmid=23076098 |bibcode=2012Sci...338.1052C}}</ref> After the re-collision, Earth was surrounded by a disk of material, which combined to form the Moon.<ref name=SimultaneousFormation>{{cite news | url=http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/moon_formation.html | accessdate=2012-12-05 | title=NASA Lunar Scientists Develop New Theory on Earth and Moon Formation | work=NASA Press Release | publisher=NASA | date=2012-10-30 | archive-date=2019-02-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223194056/https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/moon_formation.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> She has written a book on the origin of the Earth and Moon.<ref>{{Cite book| edition = 2nd| publisher = [[University of Arizona Press]]| isbn = 978-0-8165-2073-2| others = Robin M. Canup, Kevin Righter (eds.)| title = Origin of the Earth and Moon| location = Tucson : Houston| date = 2000-11-01}}</ref> Canup has also published research describing a giant impact origin for [[Pluto]] and [[Charon (moon)|Charon]].<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1126/science.1106818| issn = 1095-9203| volume = 307| issue = 5709| pages = 546–550| last = Canup| first = Robin M.| title = A Giant Impact Origin of Pluto-Charon| journal = Science| date = 2005-01-28| pmid = 15681378|bibcode = 2005Sci...307..546C | s2cid = 19558835| url = https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141119-161740181}}</ref>
Canup is an accomplished ballet dancer and danced the lead role in ''[[Coppélia]]'' in the Boulder Ballet one week after finishing her dissertation.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Finn| first = Ed| title = Robin Canup| work = [[Popular Science]]| accessdate = 2015-10-13| date = 2004-10-29| url = http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-10/robin-canup| archive-date = 2020-09-20| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200920015440/https://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-10/robin-canup/| url-status = dead}}</ref>
==Selected works== *{{Cite book| edition = 2nd| publisher = University of Arizona Press| isbn = 978-0-8165-2073-2| others = Robin M. Canup, Kevin Righter (eds.)| title = Origin of the Earth and Moon| location = Tucson : Houston| date = 2000-11-01}} *{{cite book|title=Defending Planet Earth:: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies|author=National Research Council (various) | publisher=[[National Academies Press]]|year=2010|isbn=9780309149686 }} (member of Space Studies board) * Robin M. Canup, Kevin Righter, Nicolas Dauphas et al.: ''[https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/msa/rimg/article-abstract/89/1/53/629984/Origin-of-the-Moon Origin of the Moon]''. In: Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. Vol. 89, No 1. Dec. 2023.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{vimeo|id=65600193|title=NAS Research Briefings: Robin M. Canup - Formation of Planetary Moons}} from National Academy of Sciences *[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_15-0r9m32p92s Interview with Robin Canup for NOVA series: To the Moon] WGBH Educational Foundation, raw footage, 1998 *[http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-0r9m32p92s “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Robin M. Canup, Astrophysicist,”] 1998-00-00, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Canup, Robin M.}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1968 births]] [[Category:Duke University alumni]] [[Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni]] [[Category:American women astronomers]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:American planetary scientists]] [[Category:American women planetary scientists]]