Jean-Luc Margot


Jean-Luc Margot is a Belgian-born astronomer and a UCLA professor who specializes in planetary sciences.

Career

Margot has discovered and studied several binary asteroids with radar and optical telescopes. His discoveries include Sylvia I Romulus, Kalliope I Linus, S/2003 1, Alauda I Pichi üñëm, and the binary nature of Hermes.
In 2000, he obtained the first images of binary near-Earth asteroids and described formation of the binary by a spin-up process. Margot and his research group have studied the influence of sunlight on the orbits and spins of asteroids, the Yarkovsky and YORP effects.
In 2007, Margot and collaborators determined that Mercury has a molten core from the analysis of small variations in the spin rate of the planet. These observations also enabled a measurement of the size of the core based on a concept proposed by Stan Peale.
In 2012, Margot and graduate student Julia Fang analyzed Kepler space telescope data to infer the architecture of planetary systems. They described planetary systems as "flatter than pancakes." They also showed that many planetary systems are dynamically packed.
Since 2016, he has guided UCLA students in conducting searches for technosignatures with large radio telescopes.

Honors and awards

Margot was awarded the H. C. Urey Prize by the American Astronomical Society in 2004. The asteroid 9531 Jean-Luc is named after him.