23 Facts About Mercedes Richards

Mercedes Richards's investigation focused on computational astrophysics, stellar astrophysics and exoplanets and brown dwarfs, and the physical dynamics of interacting binary stars systems.

Mercedes Richards then moved to Toronto, where two years later, in 1979, she received the MS in Space Science at York University, Toronto, and in 1986 she earned her PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Toronto.

Mercedes Richards worked as president of Commission 42 of the International Astronomical Union which deals with Close Binary Stars, was a member of the Board of Advisers of the Caribbean Institute of Astronomy and a councilor of the American Astronomical Society.

Mercedes Richards cooperated with some projects to encourage people's engagement with science, one of them was the Summer Experience in the Eberly College of Science in 2006, a six-week summer programme that was designed to engage low-income high-school students in science research.

Mercedes Richards was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 14 May 1955.

Mercedes Richards taught her to identify the colour varieties, training that would be useful in her career for the examination of stars.

Mercedes Richards attended Providence Primary School and graduated in 1966.

Mercedes Richards graduated with the degree of BSc with Special Honors in Physics from the University of the West Indies in 1977 and in 1979 she earned an MS in Space Science at York University in Toronto.

Mercedes Richards received her PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1986 at the University of Toronto.

Mercedes Richards married Donald Richards in 1980, a professor of Statistics at Pennsylvania State University.

Mercedes Richards liked playing the violin and she passed some exams at the British Royal School of Music.

Mercedes Richards spoke French fluently and had a working knowledge of Spanish, Slovak, Czech, and German.

Mercedes Richards was involved in one of the most important decisions of recent years while she was a member of the IAU in Prague where, in 2006, it was decided that Pluto would not be a planet anymore.

In 2011, Mercedes Richards organized the IAU symposium in Slovakia, the first joint international meeting between binary star specialists.

Mercedes Richards participated in programs of math and science enrichment for high-school students in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Virginia and Toronto.

Mercedes Richards served as an officer in some astronomical organizations, for example, as president of Commission 42 of the IAU, member of the Board of Advisers of the Caribbean Institute of Astronomy or councilor of the American Astronomical Society.

Mercedes Richards participated in Exploration Day, a local event emphasizing practical science learning for families, and Penn State Astronomy's Astrofest and Astronight, annual events held to promote astronomy and science to families in the Central Pennsylvania area.

Mercedes Richards was a mentor and an advocate for the promotion of young people, including women and other underrepresented groups, in physics and astronomy.

Mercedes Richards was the first to use tomography in astronomy.

At first, it was widely used in medicine or archeology, but Mercedes Richards found the utility of this to test the gas-flow model that she created for her doctoral thesis.

Mercedes Richards used tomography to observe the binary system as it moves in relation to the Earth.

Mercedes Richards worked with a team of Russian scientists to continue with her studies about the gas flows between binary stars.

Mercedes Richards was a pioneer in making theoretical hydrodynamic simulations of the Algol binary stars, where the gas flows from one star and hits the surface of the other one.