physics

Julie McEnery

Julie McEnery is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Julie McEnery rather than just read about it. In short: Julie McEnery is an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center where she is the senior project scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Until 2020 she was the project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope.

Key takeaways

Julie McEnery belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Julie McEnery to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Julie McEnery from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Julie McEnery is an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center where she is the senior project scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Until 2020 she was the project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope.

Biography McEnery received a PhD in Experimental Physics from University College Dublin in 1997. For her PhD, she observed the galaxy Markarian 421. She was elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2011. She is also an adjunct professor of physics at The University of Maryland and George Washington University. Before working at the Goddard Space Flight Center, McEnery worked on ground based gamma-ray telescopes to detect Cherenkov radiation. She has also worked with the Milagro collaboration on gamma-ray bursts. In 2018, McEnery was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Research, Innovation & Impact. University College Dublin dedicates a yearly medal and prize to a student in her honor. This award is given to the student in the universities MSc in Space Science and Technology with the highest cumulative GPA across all program modules and an overall GPA exceeding first class honors On March 29, 2012, McEnery received an email claiming that the Fermi satellite had a chance to collide with a cold war era satellite named Kosmos 1805 destroying both at the same time. As Kosmos 1805 approached Fermi the operators performed an evasive maneuver using the thrusters preventing the collision. Moments later the Fermi went on to conduct science after the close call.

See also List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Julie McEnery

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Julie McEnery claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Julie McEnery before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Julie McEnery ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Julie McEnery

In research: Julie McEnery appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Julie McEnery in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Julie McEnery is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American women, American astrophysicists, American women physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Julie McEnery outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Julie McEnery in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Julie McEnery means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Julie McEnery out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Julie McEnery in simple terms?

Why does Julie McEnery matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Julie McEnery?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Julie McEnery.