Yolanda Gómez Castellanos (1962–2012) was a Mexican astronomer who studied interstellar clouds including planetary nebulae and compact H II regions.[1][2] She became known for the discovery of water vapor through emissions from astrophysical masers associated with OH/IR stars and planetary nebulae,[1][2] evidence for the extremely recent formation of the associated nebula.[3]

Life

Gómez was born in Mexico City,[4][5] in 1962.[5][6] She studied physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), earning a bachelor's degree in 1985 and completing her doctorate in 1990.[4]

After postdoctoral research at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, she became a researcher at UNAM in 1993, first in the Institute of Astronomy and after 2001 as a founding member of the Center for Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Morelia campus of UNAM.[2][5]

She died on 16 February 2012.[2][5][6]

Recognition

Gómez was a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.[7] In 2005, UNAM gave her the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Recognition.[5] In 2008 the government of Michoacán gave her the State Prize for the Dissemination of Science and Technology.[6]

Selected publications

  • Gómez, Y.; Rodríguez, L. F.; Contreras, M. E.; Moran, J. M. (April 1994), "Anomalous water masers in OH/IR stars.", Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, 28: 97–102, Bibcode:1994RMxAA..28...97G
  • Rodriguez, Luis F.; Garay, Guido; Curiel, Salvador; Ramirez, Solange; Torrelles, Jose M.; Gomez, Yolanda; Velazquez, Arturo (July 1994), "Cepheus A HW2: a powerful thermal radio jet", The Astrophysical Journal, 430: L65, Bibcode:1994ApJ...430L..65R, doi:10.1086/187439
  • Miranda, L. F.; Gómez, Y.; Anglada, G.; Torrelles, J. M. (November 2001), "Water-maser emission from a planetary nebula with a magnetized torus", Nature, 414 (6861): 284–286, Bibcode:2001Natur.414..284M, doi:10.1038/35104518, PMID 11713522

References

  1. 1 2 "Yolanda Gómez Castellanos", Tabla Periódica de las Científicas, Mexican Academy of Sciences, retrieved 2022-12-15
  2. 1 2 3 4 Lizano, Susana; Ballesteros, Javier (2012), "Obituary: Yolanda Gómez (1962–2012)" (PDF), Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, 48: 161–162
  3. ↑ Caught in the Act: VLA Sees Star Turning Into Planetary Nebula, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 14 November 2001, retrieved 2022-12-15
  4. 1 2 "Curriculum de Yolanda Gomez Castellanos", II encuentro Participación de la Mujer en la Ciencia, Centro de Investigaciones en Optica, 2005, retrieved 2022-12-15
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 El Instituto de Astronomía lamenta el fallecimiento de la astrónoma Yolanda Gómez Castellanos (PDF), UNAM Institute of Astronomy, retrieved 2022-12-15
  6. 1 2 3 Biographical Sketch of Dr. Yolanda Gómez Castellanos (1962–2012), UNAM Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics, retrieved 2022-12-15
  7. ↑ Astronomy section members (PDF), Mexican Academy of Sciences, 2022, retrieved 2022-12-15
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