astronomy

Nidia Morrell

Nidia Morrell is a astronomy 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 Nidia Morrell rather than just read about it. In short: Nidia Irene Morrell (born 3 July 1953) is an Argentine astronomer who is a permanent staff member at the Las Campanas Observatory in La Serena, Chile. She was a member of the Massive Stars research group led by Virpi Niemelä and the Hubble Heritage Project.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Nidia Irene Morrell (born 3 July 1953) is an Argentine astronomer who is a permanent staff member at the Las Campanas Observatory in La Serena, Chile. She was a member of the Massive Stars research group led by Virpi Niemelä and the Hubble Heritage Project. Professionally, she is known for her numerous contributions related to the astrophysics of massive stars. She participates in the systematic search for variations of brightness in stellar objects, including the observation of a candidate for the Thorne–Żytkow object. She was also a member of the team that discovered the supernova ASASSN-15lh.

Career Nidia Morrell studied astronomy at the National University of La Plata (UNLP), obtaining a licentiate in 1977 and a doctorate in 1984. She received a postdoctoral fellowship (1989–1990) sponsored by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) to conduct research in the United States, advised by Helmut Altrichter at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Back in Argentina, she researched and taught at the UNLP Faculty of Astronomical and Geophysical Sciences. She focused her work on young (mostly O-type and Wolf-Rayet) stars, in regions of star formation and binary stars of large masses, also called massive stars. That type of star quickly consumes its fuel, and ends its existence with a giant explosion: a supernova. In La Plata, Morrell was a member of the Massive Stars research group led by Virpi Niemelä. She and Niemelä were part of the Hubble Heritage Project, which generated widely disseminated educational resources. From 1996 to 2001, Morrell was a representative of Argentina and a scientific advisor to the Gemini South Observatory. For years she was one of the main users of the Jorge Sahade Telescope at the Leoncito Astronomical Complex (CASLEO). Many students, who are now astronomers and teachers, made their first observations with her at El Leoncito.

In late 2002, Morrell joined the scientific team at Las Campanas Observatory and, later, the Carnegie Supernova Project (as a part-time researcher), while continuing to collaborate on massive star studies. She was also a visiting professor at the National Autonomous University of Honduras and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. In 2006 she settled in La Serena, Chile to continue her research. Among her most outstanding observations, she participated in the discovery of ASASSN-15lh, the brightest supernova ever detected. Since 2008, Morrell has also participated in Chilean Observation Time Assignment Committees, contributing her knowledge about instruments and procedures for astronomical observation. In 2009, she appeared in the documentary video El silencio de las Campanas made by Ricardo Benítez, which follows the daily activity of astronomers at a high-level observatory. In 2014 she was one of the leaders in the detection of a possible hybrid star or Thorne–Żytkow object, which had been a theoretical postulate for years. This discovery involved the Magellan Telescopes. The chemical characteristics of this star, HV 2112, were studied using spectroscopy techniques, in which Morrell is an expert.

Beliefs Throughout her career, Morrell has motivated students of all ages to participate in scientific projects. She has also joined professional initiatives to raise awareness of respecting the sky as world heritage.

While nowhere in the world are resources abundant, I would say that science is going through a wonderful moment, where international collaboration is clearer and more fluid than ever (especially because of the ease of sharing information and knowledge through the Internet). She is a staunch defender of the use of free software, free knowledge, and the equality and inclusion of all human beings. She has also collaborated with amateur astronomers who contribute to the search for supernovae from their homes.

I live my whole life with astronomy. Maybe that is the greatest achievement, the fulfillment of a vocation, although other things in life have not gone well, being able to dedicate oneself to something that one likes so much is a valuable achievement, a privilege if you will.

Recognitions For her passion for astronomy, her dedication to mentoring students, and the enormous amount of observational data she has gathered, the international conference Massive Stars and Supernovae was held in celebration of her 65th birthday. The event took place from 5 to 9 November 2018 in Bariloche, Argentina, with the institutional support of the National University of Río Negro (UNRN), the UNLP Faculty of Astronomical and Geophysical Sciences, the Argentine Astronomy Association, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the Municipality of Bariloche. Both for Dr. Morrell's scientific achievements and for her charisma, in the course of this meeting it was announced that the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid (Minor Planet 25906) in her honor.

References

External links Nidia Morrell Archived 27 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine at the International Astronomical Union

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nidia Morrell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nidia Morrell claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, 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 Nidia Morrell 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 Nidia Morrell 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 Nidia Morrell

In research: Nidia Morrell appears in astronomy 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 Nidia Morrell 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: Nidia Morrell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, 20th-century Argentine astronomers, 20th-century Argentine women scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nidia Morrell 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 Nidia Morrell in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nidia Morrell 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 Nidia Morrell out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nidia Morrell in simple terms?

Why does Nidia Morrell matter?

Because it connects several astronomy 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 Nidia Morrell?

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 Nidia Morrell.