Title: Obituary: Elisabetta (Betty) Pierazzo (1963-2011) Authors: Sykes, Mark
Betty was an expert in the area of impact modelling throughout the solar system, as well as an expert on the astrobiological and environmental effects of impacts on Earth and Mars. Her work ranged widely, from providing detailed insights into the Chicxulub impact that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs to putting constraints on the thickness of the ice shell of Jupiter's moon Europa. She was interested in the rise of life and explored the delivery of organics to planets and Europa by comets as well as the creation of subsurface hydrothermal systems by impacts that may have been favourable sites for life on Mars. Read more
Elisabetta "Betty" Pierazzo, a leading expert in the modelling of impact crater formation, has been honoured with an impact crater named for her on the Moon. The 9-kilometre diameter crater is located on the far side of the Moon. Bright rays of ejected material extend more than 450 kilo meters from the crater rim, suggesting that the crater was formed by a relatively recent impact event. Read more