After being made a DBE in 2006 for her services to physics and astronomy, the newly appointed Dame Carole Jordan interrupted a speaker when she was introduced as such at a function. \u201cDame Commander,\u201d she corrected them. \u201cI like the Commander bit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was this no-nonsense attitude and willingness to speak her mind that made the astrophysicist a formidable authority in the field of solar physics. \u201cShe took charge,\u201d a colleague remembered. \u201cShe got things done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s work centred on the use of x-ray and ultraviolet (UV) spectra to analyse plasma, which accounts for more than 99 per cent of all observable matter in the universe. She was active in the research community throughout her career, editing\u00a0Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,\u00a0Solar Physics and\u00a0The Observatory.<\/p>\n
One of her main contributions was her work on solar UV spectra \u2014 the pattern of light absorbed or emitted by a substance \u2014 with Skylab, a Nasa space station that orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, which helped to develop understanding of helium-like ions, also known as two-electron atoms. These are important in spectroscopy \u2014 the analysis of light to understand the physical and chemical properties of substances \u2014 and the identification of celestial objects.<\/p>\n
As her career progressed, Jordan became heavily involved with observations of stellar spectra, especially using data obtained from space platforms such as the International Ultraviolet Explorer and the Hubble Space Telescope.<\/p>\n
She also made significant progress in the understanding of the sun and, more specifically, the corona \u2014\u00a0the outermost layer of the star\u2019s atmosphere, which appears as a faint halo during total solar eclipses.\u00a0She took a particular interest in coronal heating \u2014 the mystery of why the surface of the sun is about 300 times\u00a0cooler\u00a0than its outer atmosphere \u2014\u00a0and her work helped further the accurate prediction of space weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Severe space weather occurs when explosive events near the sun\u2019s surface project strong radiation fields towards the Earth, and the phenomenon has been on the UK\u2019s National Risk Register since 2012 as one of the most serious natural and environmental hazards. In space, turbulent conditions can damage spacecraft and even destroy them, and on Earth this can result in significant disruption to power grids and communication systems, so reliable methods for predicting such phenomena are crucial.<\/p>\n
Later, Jordan transferred her solar techniques to the plasma surrounding cool stars \u2014 smaller stellar objects with relatively low surface temperatures of about 3,000 degrees Kelvin or less \u2014 and developed techniques using spectra to determine the temperature of plasma as a function of height.<\/p>\n
Arguably, Jordan\u2019s greatest legacy to astronomy was far more understated. She did much to further research on ionisation \u2014 the gain or loss of electrons from an atom to create an ion \u2014 and was a pioneer of methods for detecting and interpreting the different ionisation states. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things that we take for granted now,\u201d a fellow member of the Royal Astronomical Society said. \u201cBut somebody had to work it all out.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this knowledge at her disposal, Jordan was not shy in making her scientific opinions known. One colleague recalled: \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t accept undefined discussions. You had to be on the ball with your knowledge of the science when you were having a discussion with her. And if you were imprecise or incorrect, she certainly let you know about it \u2014 in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carole Jordan was born in 1941 to Reginald Jordan and Ethel (n\u00e9e Waller). After studying at Harrow County Grammar School for Girls she read physics at University College London (UCL), where she wrote a paper on how craters on the moon might become distorted.<\/p>\n
After her graduation in 1962, Jordan completed a PhD in astrophysics under the Australian astronomer CW Allen, and spent time at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her dissertation, titled \u201cThe Relative Abundance of Silicon Iron and Nickel in the Solar Corona\u201d, was published in 1965.<\/p>\n
She began her academic career in 1966 as an assistant lecturer in astronomy at UCL, where she stayed until 1969. Between 1969 and 1971 she was a research assistant at the Astrophysics Research Unit at Culham and went on to become the principal scientific officer there from 1973 until 1976.<\/p>\n
That same year she moved to the University of Oxford as a lecturer in physics and joined Somerville College as a tutor. The following year she was made a Wolfson fellow in natural science, and from there her career continued to gather momentum, setting an inspiring precedent for women in science.<\/p>\n
Jordan was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1990, an honour of which she was immensely proud. Six years later she became one of the first female professors of astronomy at the University of Oxford, and she served as head of its Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics from 2003 to 2008. She was the first woman to be president of the Royal Astronomical Society, from 1994 to 1996, and only the third to win the RAS Gold Medal, in 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was a member of both the Science and Engineering Research Council and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. She served twice on the council of the Institute of Physics and was its first vice-president of science. The only thing she cared about as much as her work was her cat, with whom she shared her cottage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2017 Oxford asked pupils and staff to nominate 20 people with links to the university whose portraits should be put on display to redress the balance of \u201cdead white males\u201d lining its walls, with the criteria being \u201cexamples of excellence\u201d and people who had \u201cchallenged stereotypes\u201d. As a woman who had spent her whole career striving to inspire female students at the university to study technical subjects, Jordan was a fitting choice.<\/p>\n
She was aware of the challenges \u2014 in an interview in 1987 she acknowledged peer pressure against girls studying scientific subjects at school, saying: \u201cGirls don\u2019t want to feel different at the age of 13 or 14.\u201d To combat this she encouraged women\u2019s science research at any opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A fellow physics tutor at Somerville said: \u201cAfter she retired, whenever we met, she was always asking me the same question: \u2018How many of our female students continue to a PhD?\u2019 And her comment to my answer was always the same: \u2018Try harder\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
On first meeting, many students perceived Jordan \u2014 who could often be found smoking one of her characteristic long, thin cigars \u2014 to be a daunting presence. Though she demanded the best work from her students, she was quick to put them at ease with a beaming, encouraging smile, and she could be unexpectedly empathetic and supportive in times of need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember that she would give a bit of a pep talk \u2014 with cakes \u2014 to students just before their exams,\u201d said one tutee who went on to become a lecturer at the university. \u201cShe helped me find my way when I started teaching at the college, generously lending me the use of her room for teaching while she was on sabbatical. Years later, when I got married, she gifted me a piece of furniture from the room that I had admired then.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was also generous with her attention. Another colleague recalled: \u201cAlthough she worked in a particular field, she was interested in everything else that was going on in astronomy, and that\u2019s why she was such a good supporter of young people because she listened to what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meeting her years later at a Somerville reunion, some of Jordan\u2019s early students found that although she was incredibly focused on her career, she was also warm in valuing those who did not go on to pursue physics.<\/p>\n
Despite her no-nonsense approach to work, Jordan displayed a fun sense of humour on occasion. One colleague remembered a boat trip around Corsica during a Nato science workshop in the Eighties. \u201cMany of us younger people were quite happy to dive off the boat, but Carol just sat in the back with her cigar, watching everybody swim. She threw pieces of bread into the water, gathering the shoal of fish that were trailing the boat, so that everybody then had to swim through \u2026 being nibbled, and she took great delight in that little joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped down from her roles at Somerville in 2008 and was made a fellow emerita in recognition of her distinguished service to the college. However, her dedication to physics and astronomy continued long after her nominal retirement and she provided input on mission proposals up until recent years.<\/p>\n
The president of the Royal Astronomical Society, Professor Mike Lockwood, recalled his first meeting with Jordan on BBC Radio 4\u2019s Last Word: \u201cShortly after she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, I was sitting quite near her, and we all had these little badges for the meeting and hers said Carole Jordan FRS on it. I caught her just taking a sneaky look at it, and she did a little celebration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could have pretended I hadn\u2019t noticed when she looked up and looked a bit shamefaced, but I didn\u2019t. I gave her a big thumbs up.\u201d \u2029<\/p>\n
Professor Dame Carole Jordan FRS FRAS FInstP was born on July 19, 1941. She died of undisclosed causes on February 3, 2026, aged 84<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After being made a DBE in 2006 for her services to physics and astronomy, the newly appointed Dame…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-509314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}