Andrea Mia Ghez is an astronomer and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. She received a BS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and her Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology in 1991. An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics. ... Binomial name Ucla xenogrammus Holleman, 1993 The largemouth triplefin, Ucla xenogrammus, is a fish of the family Tripterygiidae and only member of the genus Ucla, found in the Pacific Ocean from Viet Nam, the Philippines, Palau and the Caroline Islands to Papua New Guinea, Australia (including Christmas Island), and the... Physics (Greek: (phúsis), nature and (phusiké), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and characterization of universal laws which govern matter, energy, space, and time. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Her current research involves using high spatial resolution imaging techniques, such as the adaptive optics system at the Keck telescopes, to study star-forming regions and the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy known as Sagittarius A. She uses the kinematics of stars near the center of the galaxy as a probe to investigate this region. A deformable mirror can be used to correct wavefront errors in an astronomical telescope. ... The W. M. Keck Observatory is home to the two largest optical/near-infrared telescopes at the 4,145 meter (13,600 ft) summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. ... Top: artists conception of a supermassive black hole drawing material from a nearby star. ... The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Galaxia Kuklos; or simply the Galaxy) is a barred spiral galaxy in the Local Group, and has special significance to humanity as the location of the solar system, which is located near the Orion... Sagittarius A (or Sgr A) is a complex radio source at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. ... In physics, kinematics is the branch of classical mechanics concerned with describing the motions of objects without considering the factors that cause or affect the motion. ...

Awards

• Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy (1994)
• Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society (1998)
• Sackler Prize (2004)

The Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Association of University Women on advice from the American Astronomical Society to an untenured postdoctoral woman for distinguished contributions to astronomy. ... The Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society to a young (less than age 36) astronomer for outstanding achievement in observational astronomical research. ... The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is a US society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The main aim of the AAS is provide a political voice for its members and organise their lobbying. ... The Sackler Prize is a $40,000 prize in physics or chemistry given by Tel Aviv University each year. ...

Selected publications

• The Multiplicity of T Tauri Stars in the Taurus-Auriga & Ophiuchus-Scorpius Star Forming Regions: A 2.2 micron Imaging Survey, 1993, AJ, 106, 2005
• High Spatial Resolution Imaging of Pre-Main Sequence Binary Stars: Resolving the Relationship Between Disks and Close Companions, 1997, ApJ, 490, 353
• High Proper Motions in the Vicinity of Sgr A*: Unambiguous Evidence for a Massive Central Black Hole, 1998, ApJ, 509 678
• The Accelerations of Stars Orbiting the Milky Way's Central Black Hole, 2000, Nature, 407, 349
• The First Measurement of Spectral Lines in a Short-Period Star Bound to the Galaxy's Central Black Hole: A Paradox of Youth, 2003, ApJLetters, 586, 126