Denise Stephens
{{short description|American astronomer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox academic
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| name = Denise C. Nuttall Stephens
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| occupation = associate professor
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| education = Brigham Young University (BS)
New Mexico State University (PhD)
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| discipline = Astronomy
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| main_interests = Brown dwarfs
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Denise C. Nuttall Stephens (born {{birth based on age as of date|43|2017|11|25|noage=y}}) is an associate professor of astronomy in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Brigham Young University.{{Cite web |url=https://www.physics.byu.edu/department/directory/stephens |title=Faculty/Staff Directory |last=Astronomy |first=BYU Physics and |website=www.physics.byu.edu |language=en |access-date=January 18, 2018}}
Education and research experience
Stephens graduated from Brigham Young University in 1996 as an undergraduate student with a degree in physics. She received her Master's and Ph.D. in Astronomy from New Mexico State University. She completed her a postgraduate program at the Space Telescope Science Institute and at Johns Hopkins University. She joined the faculty of BYU in 2007.{{Cite web |url=https://chroniclevitae.com/people/650984-denise-stephens/profile |title=ChronicleVitae |website=ChronicleVitae for higher ed jobs, career tools and advice |language=en |access-date=January 18, 2018 |archive-date=January 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071448/https://chroniclevitae.com/people/650984-denise-stephens/profile |url-status=live }} She studies the atmosphere of brown dwarfs, looks for and classifies binary systems, studies TNOs, and uses telescopes both on ground and in space to collect infrared data.
In 2017, she and a team of undergraduates at BYU published their discovery of a new planet called KELT-16b, which was made as part of the KELT project.{{Cite news |url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5266333&itype=CMSID |title=Planet discovery a lesson in persistence, BYU astronomy students say |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |access-date=January 19, 2018 |language=en-US |archive-date=January 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071223/http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5266333&itype=CMSID |url-status=live }} Her team also co-discovered the hottest known exoplanet KELT-9b the same year.{{Cite journal |last=Gaudi |first=B. Scott |last2=Stassun |first2=Keivan G. |last3=Collins |first3=Karen A. |last4=Beatty |first4=Thomas G. |last5=Zhou |first5=George |last6=Latham |first6=David W. |last7=Bieryla |first7=Allyson |last8=Eastman |first8=Jason D. |last9=Siverd |first9=Robert J. |last10=Crepp |first10=Justin R. |last11=Gonzales |first11=Erica J. |last12=Stevens |first12=Daniel J. |last13=Buchhave |first13=Lars A. |last14=Pepper |first14=Joshua |last15=Johnson |first15=Marshall C. |date=June 5, 2017 |title=A giant planet undergoing extreme-ultraviolet irradiation by its hot massive-star host |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22392 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=546 |issue=7659 |pages=514–518 |doi=10.1038/nature22392 |issn=1476-4687 |arxiv=1706.06723}}
Community involvement
Stephens is a coordinator of the BYU Astronomical Society.{{Cite web |url=https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club-view.cfm?Club_ID=828 |title=BYU Astronomical Society {{!}} Night Sky Network|website=nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov|access-date=2018-01-19}} She also runs an annual public event called Astrofest which introduces physics and astronomy to kids in a fun way.{{Cite news |url=http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/education/college/byu/byu-professors-lead-next-generation-of-female-scientists/article_58f82e2a-0f74-5c4a-9536-b340ca43873e.html |title=BYU professors lead next generation of female scientists |last=BYU |first=Jessilyn Gale |work=Daily Herald |access-date=January 19, 2018 |language=en}}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She is the team captain of an on-campus flag football team which is the only women's intramural faculty team at BYU.{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-football-team-full-of-ph-ds-1511611201 |title=The Football Team Full of Ph.Ds |last=Murphy |first=Jen |date=November 25, 2017 |work=Wall Street Journal |access-date=January 19, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}
Personal life
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Brigham Young University alumni
Category:New Mexico State University alumni
Category:Brigham Young University faculty