Maria Luisa Aguilar's 85th Birthday

Google Dooles 20.06.2023 10:00  Date: June 20, 2023 Today’s Doodle celebrates the 85th birthday of Maria Luisa Aguilar, a world-famous astronomer. She reached for the stars and became the first professional astronomer in Peru. She was born on this day in Jauja, Peru, and from a young age, she was a stargazer who dreamed of studying the night sky. She graduated from the School of Mathematics at the National University of San Marcos in Lima. It seemed unlikely that Aguilar would ever become a professional astronomer as Peru had no astronomy programs at the time. But she traveled to Argentina to study astronomy at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, where she became a star student . In 1969, she returned to her homeland to teach at the National University of Engineering and the National University of San Marcos. She helped establish astronomy as a professional discipline in Peru by creating a series of talks and conferences called Astronomical Fridays. Still a popular event today, it is the longest-running series of its kind. In 1981, she became founding director of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar at the National University of San Marcos. Soon after, she helped forge an agreement between San Marcos University and the International Astronomical Union . This allowed the IAU to send visiting lecturers to Peru for the first time. In 1985, she coordinated the visits of three prominent astronomy lectures — which helped promote astronomy as a legitimate field of study. Happy 85th birthday, Maria Luisa Aguilar! Thank you for following your dreams, even when they seemed out of this world. Location: Tags: