After a PhD thesis at the ULiège Astrophysics Department, about the composition of the oldest stars of the Galaxy, which he defended in 2000, Emmanuël Jehin spent seven years in Chile as an astronomer. First as a fellow for two years and then as a staff astronomer at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope within the science operation team where he was in charge of the FORS instrument.

He returned to Belgium in 2007 with a tenure position as a FRS-FNRS Research Associate in the STAR Institute of the University of Liège where he gives lectures for the students of the master in Space Sciences.

Emmanuël Jehin is a specialist of the study of the small bodies of the Solar System, and more particularly comets, these small icy bodies¿ remnants of the formation of the Solar System, that are particularly significant in astrobiology, since they may have delivered water and pre-biotic material to the early Earth. He is the leader of the Liège comet¿s physics group and he is involved in several international projects to study comets and also asteroids, trans-neptunian objects and meteors.

He is the project manager of TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope), a very successful network of two 60-cm robotic telescopes, one located at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile, and the other one at the Oukaimeden Observatory in Morocco. Both telescopes are dedicated to the study of exoplanets and small bodies.

In 2017, these telescopes made the headlines with the detection of a unique nearby planetary system, the TRAPPIST-1 system, composed of seven exoplanets of similar size than the Earth with three of them orbiting in the habitable zone of their star. He is a co-investigator of SPECULOOS (Search for Habitable Planets Eclipsing Ultra-Cool Stars), and was responsible for the installation of the four 1-m robotic telescopes at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.

Passionate about astronomy from a very young age - with the return of Halley's Comet in 1986-, Emmanuël Jehin is deeply involved in the popularization of astronomy, in particular within the Astronomy Group of Spa, that he founded with other enthusiasts in 1990 and which organizes many activities. For 25 years he has been initiating budding astronomers every summer during courses for children, conferences, exhibitions, public observation sessions, etc.

Research field

Astrophysique

Duties or mandates

2017 : Senior Research Associate (FNRS)
2007 : Research Associate FNRS
2003 : Staff Astronomer European Southern Observatory (VLT)
2000 : Fellowship European Southern Observatory (VLT)

Scientific distinctions

L'astéroïde (207420) Jehin nommé par l'Union Astronomique Internationale (2023)
Wernaers Science Popularization Prize, FNRS (2022)
Édouard Mailly Prize, Royal Belgium Academy of Science (2020)
NASA Group Achievement Award (2018)
beSPACE Award for TRAPPIST Team (2018)
Honorary Citizen of the City of Spa (2018)
Honorary Citizen of the City of Liège (2017)
Pol and Christiane Swings Prize, Royal Belgium Academy of Science (2001)
Armand and Delphine Delsemme Prize of Liège Astronomical Society (1991)

ULiège Course

Nuisances sensorielles (odeurs, bruits, lumière...), 36h Th, 12h Pr, JEHIN Emmanuel, KAISER Xavier, KERVYN Thierry, ROMAIN Anne-Claude, VENTER Francis

ENVT0898-1

The small bodies of the solar system, 15h Th, 5h Pr, JEHIN Emmanuel

SPAT0043-1

Astrophysical observations, 15h Th, 15h Pr, 5j T. t., JEHIN Emmanuel

SPAT0068-1

JEHIN Emmanuel

Bibliography

Biography