Marla Geha - Astronomer

Marla Geha works at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

- Peg Lopata

In addition to teaching astronomy, Geha studies the formation, evolution, and destruction of dwarf galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are the most abundant type of galaxy in the universe, but they’re difficult to detect because they’re not very bright and are—as the name suggests— small in size. Maybe you wouldn’t think someone needs to use the world’s largest telescopes to study the universe’s smallest galaxies, but that’s exactly what she does.

WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN ASTRONOMY?

I liked math and physics when I was in school, but I also wanted to travel. Since I am an astronomer, I get to do both. Many of the telescopes I use to do research are located atop mountains in truly beautiful and remote places, such as Chile and Hawaii.

SOUNDS EXOTIC AND FUN. WHAT OTHER INVENTIONS, BESIDES TELESCOPES, HAVE HELPED ASTRONOMERS LIKE YOU MAKE ADVANCES IN THIS FIELD?

By far the most important invention in my field, besides telescopes, has been camera phones. We astronomers use the same technology that is in personal camera phones to take pictures of planets, stars, and galaxies. Taking digital images of the sky has completely changed the questions we ask about the universe.