View source for Sara Seager

{{Short description|Canadian astronomer}}
{{Distinguish|Sarah Seager}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name             = Sara Seager
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of Canada|OC]]
| image            = Sara Seager CHF-Cain-Conference-May-2016-059.jpg
| image_size       =
| caption          = Seager at a 2016 conference
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1971|7|21|df=yes}}<ref name="CV">{{cite web |url=http://seagerexoplanets.mit.edu/SeagerCV2013.pdf |title=Curricula Vitae – Professor Sara Seager |date=2013 |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100429/http://seagerexoplanets.mit.edu/SeagerCV2013.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
| birth_place      = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada<ref name="NYT-20161207" />
| citizenship      = [[Canada]]–[[United States]]<ref name="CV" />
| nationality      = [[Canadian–American]]
| fields           = [[Astronomy]]<br />[[Planetary science]]
| workplaces       = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (2007–)<br />[[Carnegie Institution for Science|Carnegie Institution of Washington]] (2002–2006) <br /> [[Institute for Advanced Study]] (1999–2002)
| education       = [[University of Toronto]] ([[BSc]])<br />[[Harvard University]] ([[PhD]])
| thesis_title     = Extrasolar giant planets under strong stellar irradiation
| thesis_url       = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43085140
| thesis_year      = 1999
| doctoral_advisor = [[Dimitar Sasselov]]<ref name=back>{{YouTube|id=fk9VdAXeZiY|Back to the thesis: Sara Seager}}</ref><ref name="SmithBaker2016">{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Kerri|last2=Baker|first2=Noah|title=Back to the thesis: Late nights, typos, self-doubt and despair. Francis Collins, Sara Seager and Uta Frith dust off their theses, and reflect on what the PhD was like for them.|journal=Nature|volume=535|issue=7610|year=2016|pages=22–25|doi=10.1038/535022a|pmid=27383967|bibcode = 2016Natur.535...22S |doi-access=free}}</ref>
| known_for        = Search for [[extrasolar planet]]s
| awards           = [[Order of Canada]] (2020, Officer)<br />[[MacArthur Fellowship]] (2013)<br />[[Helen B. Warner Prize]] (2007)<br />Harvard Book Prize in Astronomy (2004)<br />[[Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council|NSERC]] Science and Technology [[Fellow]]ship (1990–1994)
| website          = {{URL|seagerexoplanets.mit.edu}}
| spouse           = Charles Darrow
| children         = 2 
}}

{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage=  | video1 = [http://www.ted.com/talks/sara_seager_the_search_for_planets_beyond_our_solar_system Sara Seager, “The search for planets beyond our solar system”], TED2015 | 
video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjuz6MO0eU “Space Experts Discuss the Search for Life in the Universe at NASA”], NASA 2014 | 
video3 = [http://www.innovaxiom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170631 “Sara Seager ”], Origins 2011 }}

'''Sara Seager''' {{postnominals|country=CAN|OC}} (born 21 July 1971) is a Canadian-American [[astronomer]] and [[planetary science|planetary scientist]].<ref name="NYT-20161207">{{cite news|last=Jones|first=Chris|date=7 December 2016|title=The Woman Who Might Find Us Another Earth|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/magazine/the-world-sees-me-as-the-one-who-will-find-another-earth.html|url-status=live|access-date=8 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214062733/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/magazine/the-world-sees-me-as-the-one-who-will-find-another-earth.html|archive-date=14 February 2021}}</ref> She is a professor at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] and is known for her work on [[extrasolar planets]] and their atmospheres. She is the author of two textbooks on these topics,<ref>{{cite book |last=Seager |first=Sara |title=Exoplanet Atmospheres: Physical Processes |isbn=9781400835300 |date=2010 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Seager |first=Sara |title=Exoplanets |isbn=978-0-8165-2945-2 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |date=2010}}</ref> and has been recognized for her research by ''[[Popular Science]]'',<ref name="PopSci10">{{Cite news|last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=13 September 2006|title=The Fifth Annual Brilliant 10: Worms, planets, extra dimensions: just a few of the things that inspire the most creative young scientists of the year|url=https://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2006-09/fifth-annual-brilliant-10/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121000939/https://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2006-09/fifth-annual-brilliant-10/|archive-date=21 January 2021|access-date=30 March 2021|website=[[Popular Science]]}}</ref> ''[[Discover (magazine)|Discover Magazine]]'',<ref name="Discover20">{{Cite web|last1=Witman|first1=Sarah|last2=Grant|first2=Andrew|last3=Svoboda|first3=Elizabeth|date=20 November 2008|title=20 Best Brains Under 40: Young innovators are changing everything from theoretical mathematics to cancer therapy|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/20-best-brains-under-40|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109023436/http://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/20-best-brains-under-40|archive-date=9 November 2020|access-date=20 March 2021|website=[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]]}}</ref> ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'',<ref name="Nature10">{{cite journal|last=Hand|first=Eric|date=21 December 2011|title=Sara Seager: Planet seeker|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=480|issue=7378|pages=437–45|doi=10.1038/480437a|pmid=22193082|doi-access=free}}</ref> and ''[[Time (magazine)|TIME Magazine]]''.<ref name="TIME25">{{cite magazine|last1=Bjerklie|first1=David|date=2012|title=The 25 Most Influential People in Space|url=http://www.amesteam.arc.nasa.gov/NewsArticles/TIME_Space_Allamandola_25MostInfluentialPeopleinSpace.pdf|url-status=dead|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|page=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515121347/http://www.amesteam.arc.nasa.gov/NewsArticles/TIME_Space_Allamandola_25MostInfluentialPeopleinSpace.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> Seager was awarded a [[MacArthur Fellowship]] in 2013 citing her theoretical work on detecting chemical signatures on [[exoplanet]] atmospheres and developing low-cost space observatories to observe [[planetary transit]]s.<ref name="MacArthur">{{cite web|date=25 September 2013|title=MacArthur Fellows: Meet the Class of 2013: Sara Seager|url=http://www.macfound.org/fellows/903/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121014006/https://www.macfound.org/fellows/903/|archive-date=21 January 2021|access-date=25 September 2013|website=[[MacArthur Foundation]]}}</ref>

==Background==
Seager was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada, and is [[Jewish]].<ref name="NYT-20161207" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cohen|first=Anne|title=Four Jews Win MacArthur 'Genius' Awards|url=https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/184606/four-jews-win-macarthur-genius-awards/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029233802/https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/184606/four-jews-win-macarthur-genius-awards/|archive-date=29 October 2020|access-date=30 March 2021|website=[[The Forward]]|date=27 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Dashefsky|first1=Arnold|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHV3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA868|title=American Jewish Year Book 2014: The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities|last2=Sheskin|first2=Ira|publisher=Springer|year=2014|isbn=978-3-319-09623-0|page=868|access-date=10 June 2017|archive-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523045144/https://books.google.com/books?id=CHV3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA868|url-status=live}}</ref> Her father, David Seager, who lost his hair when he was 19 years old, was a pioneer and one of the world's leaders in [[hair transplantation]] and the founder of the Seager Hair Transplant Center in Toronto.<ref name="NYT-20161207" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Michael D. Lemonick|title=Mirror Earth: The Search for Our Planet's Twin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjSWGMFkN8gC&pg=PT65|year=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-8027-7902-1|page=65|access-date=10 June 2017|archive-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523045143/https://books.google.com/books?id=gjSWGMFkN8gC&pg=PT65|url-status=live}}</ref>

She earned her [[Bachelor of Science|BSc]] degree in [[Mathematics]] and [[Physics]] from the [[University of Toronto]] in 1994, assisted by a [[Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council|
NSERC University Undergraduate Student Research Award]], and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in [[astronomy]] from [[Harvard University]] in 1999. Her doctoral thesis developed theoretical models of [[atmosphere]]s on extrasolar planets and was supervised by [[Dimitar Sasselov]].<ref name=back/><ref name="SmithBaker2016"/><ref>{{cite thesis |bibcode=1999PhDT........18S |degree=PhD |publisher=Harvard University |first=Sara |last=Seager |title=Extrasolar giant planets under strong stellar irradiation |oclc=43085140 |date=1999|id={{ProQuest|304503987}} }}</ref>

She held a [[postdoctoral research]] fellow position at the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] between 1999 and 2002 and a senior research staff member at the [[Carnegie Institution for Science|Carnegie Institution of Washington]] until 2006. She joined the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in January 2007 as an associate professor in both physics and planetary science, was granted tenure in July 2007,<ref>{{cite news|date=14 November 2007|title=MIT Corporation grants tenure to 50 faculty|publisher=MIT News Office|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/tenure-tt1114.html|url-status=live|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928034650/https://news.mit.edu/2007/tenure-tt1114|archive-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> and was elevated to full professor in July 2010.<ref>{{cite news|date=29 December 2010|title=Corporation announces faculty promotions and appointments|publisher=MIT News Office|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/faculty-promotions-appointments.html|url-status=live|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928034650/https://news.mit.edu/2007/tenure-tt1114|archive-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> She currently holds the "Class of 1941" chair.<ref name="CV" />

She was elected a Legacy Fellow of the [[American Astronomical Society]] in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=AAS Fellows|url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318002452/https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|archive-date=18 March 2021|access-date=30 September 2020|website=[[American Astronomical Society]]}}</ref>

She is married to Charles Darrow and they have two sons from her first marriage. Her first spouse, Michael Wevrick, died of cancer in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|last=Seager|first=Sara|date=14 January 2013|title=So Many Exoplanets... So Few Women Scientists|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-seager/women-in-science_b_2471980.html|access-date=25 September 2013|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|archive-date=3 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003092041/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-seager/women-in-science_b_2471980.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=13 August 2011|title=Obituary: Michael Wevrick|newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]]|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?n=Michael-Wevrick&pid=153066177#fbLoggedOut|access-date=25 September 2013|archive-date=27 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927142116/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?n=Michael-Wevrick&pid=153066177#fbLoggedOut|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Academic research==
[[File:Sara Seager.webm|left|thumb|Seager talking about exoplanets]]
Seager's research has been primarily directed toward the discovery and analysis of [[exoplanets]]; in particular her work is centered around ostensibly rare [[earth analog]]s, leading [[NASA]] to dub her "an astronomical Indiana Jones."<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Joshua |last=Rodriguez |title=On a quest for astronomy's holy grail |publisher=NASA |date=3 October 2008 |url=https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/67/planet-hunters-on-a-quest-for-astronomys-holy-grail/ |journal= |access-date=12 June 2017 |archive-date=19 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219214443/https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/67/planet-hunters-on-a-quest-for-astronomys-holy-grail/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Seager used the term "gas dwarf" for a high-mass [[super-Earth]]-type planet composed mainly of [[hydrogen]] and [[helium]] in an animation of one model of the exoplanet [[Gliese 581c]]. The term "gas dwarf" has also been used to refer to planets smaller than [[gas giant]]s, with thick hydrogen and helium atmospheres.<ref>{{cite web|date=15 June 2004|title=Of Gas Dwarfs and Waterworlds|url=http://216.231.48.101/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5228&start=0|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704185304/http://216.231.48.101/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5228&start=0|archive-date=4 July 2011|access-date=25 October 2010|publisher=[[Celestia]] forum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eldacur.com/~brons/NerdCorner/StarGen/StarGen.html |title=StarGen – Solar System Generator |date=2003 |access-date=25 October 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205065324/http://www.eldacur.com/~brons/NerdCorner/StarGen/StarGen.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Together with [[Marc Kuchner]], Seager had predicted the existence of [[carbon planet]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exoplanet Interior Composition |url=https://www.saraseager.com/exoplanet-interior-composition/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Sara Seager |language=en-US}}</ref>

Seager has been the chair of the NASA Science and Technology Definition team for a proposed mission, "[[Starshade]]",<ref>Kramer, Miriam (March 24, 2014). "[https://www.space.com/25172-starshade-alien-earth-exoplanets-incredible-tech.html Incredible Technology: Giant Starshade Could Help Find an Alien Earth"], '' [[Space.com]]''. Retrieved 12 June 2023.</ref> to launch a free-flying [[occulting disk]], used to block the light from a distant star in order for a telescope to be able to resolve the (much dimmer) light from an accompanying exoplanet located in the habitable zone of the star.<ref>Grossman, Lisa (25 September 2013). "[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24247-nasa-revives-starshade-to-let-earth-like-worlds-shine/ NASA revives Starshade to let Earth-like worlds shine"], ''[[New Scientist]]''. Retrieved 12 June 2023.</ref>

In years since 2020, Sara has been focusing on work related to Venus, with the potential discovery of [[phosphine]], a [[biosignature]] gas, in the upper atmosphere.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=Paul Scott|date=2020|title=Possible life signs in the clouds of Venus|url=https://earthsky.org/space/phosphine-disequilibrium-venus-atmosphere-pioneer-venus-1978|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811113921/https://earthsky.org/space/phosphine-disequilibrium-venus-atmosphere-pioneer-venus-1978/|archive-date=11 August 2021|access-date=26 August 2021|website=[[EarthSky]]}}</ref>

===Seager equation===
Seager developed a parallel version of the [[Drake equation]] to estimate the number of habitable planets in the Galaxy.<ref name="equation">{{Cite web|last=Powell|first=Devin|date=4 September 2013|title=The Drake Equation Revisited: Interview with Planet Hunter Sara Seager|url=https://www.space.com/22648-drake-equation-alien-life-seager.html?cid=51463011558824|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225062017/https://www.space.com/22648-drake-equation-alien-life-seager.html?cid=51463011558824|archive-date=25 February 2021|access-date=30 March 2021|website=[[Astrobiology Magazine]]}}</ref> Instead of aliens with radio technology, Seager has revised the Drake equation to focus on simply the presence of any alien life detectable from Earth. The equation focuses on the search for planets with biosignature gases, gases produced by life that can accumulate in a planet atmosphere to levels that can be detected with remote space telescopes.<ref name=equation />

: <math> N = N^*F_\text{Q} F_\text{HZ} F_\text{O} F_\text{L} F_\text{S} </math>

where:
* ''N'' = the number of planets with detectable signs of life
* ''N''* = the number of stars observed
* ''F''<sub>Q</sub> = the fraction of stars that are quiet
* ''F''<sub>HZ</sub> = the fraction of stars with rocky planets in the habitable zone
* ''F''<sub>O</sub> = the fraction of stars with observable planets
* ''F''<sub>L</sub> = the fraction of planets that have life
* ''F''<sub>S</sub> = the fraction of life forms that produce planetary atmospheres with one or more detectable signature gases

===Asteria Spacecraft===

Seager was the principal investigator of the [[ASTERIA (spacecraft)|Asteria]] (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics) spacecraft,<ref>Seager, Sara (Jan/Feb. 2021). "[https://wp.technologyreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/MIT-NEWS-2021-01-1.pdf My satellite would fit in a small suitcase. But it could help us find other worlds]" (excerpt from book ''The Smallest Lights in the Universe'' (2020).) ''MIT News'', pp. 12-17. Retrieved 20 May 2023.</ref> a 6-U [[CubeSat|cubesat]] designed to do precision [[Photometry (astronomy)|photometry]] to search for extrasolar planets, a collaborative project between MIT and NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]. ASTERIA was launched into low Earth orbit from the [[International Space Station]] on 20 November 2017, and successfully operated until its orbital decay on 24 April 2020.

===Venus Life Finder===

In 2020, Seager led a team proposing a mission ''[[Venus Life Finder]]'',<ref>{{cite web |date=10 December 2021 |title=Venus Life Finder Mission Study |url=https://venuscloudlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VLFReport_12092021.pdf |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=Venus Cloud Life |publisher=[[MIT]] |pages=15–23}}</ref> a small spacecraft to investigate the possibility of life in the atmosphere of Venus.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 December 2021 |title="Newer, nimbler, faster:" Venus probe will search for signs of life in clouds of sulfuric acid |url=https://news.mit.edu/2021/newer-nimbler-faster-mission-venus-search-signs-life-clouds-sulfuric-acid-1210 |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=[[MIT]]}}</ref> The mission will be a privately funded spacecraft to be launched by [[Rocket Lab]] on the [[Electron (rocket)|Electron]] rocket<ref>{{cite web |url=https://venuscloudlife.com/small-mission/ |title=Rocket Lab Probe |work=Venus Cloud Life |publisher=[[MIT]] |date=7 March 2023 |access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref> with a target launch date of January 2025.

== Honors and awards ==
Seager was awarded the 2012 [[Sackler Prize]] for "analysis of the atmospheres and internal compositions of extra-solar planets,"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/seager-sackler-prize.html |title=Sara Seager Named Co-Winner of the 2012 Sackler Prize |publisher=MIT News Office |date=18 April 2012 |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-date=4 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404032547/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/seager-sackler-prize.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy|Helen B. Warner Prize]] from the [[American Astronomical Society]] in 2007 for developing "fundamental techniques for understanding, analyzing, and finding the atmospheres of extrasolar planets,"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/seager-award.html |title=Helen B. Warner Prize |date=5 February 2007 |publisher=[[American Astronomical Society]] |access-date=11 April 2007 |archive-date=8 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208144334/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/seager-award.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the 2004 Harvard Book Prize in Astronomy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/book/bok-prize-recipients |title=Bok Prize Recipients |publisher=[[Harvard University]] Department of Astronomy |access-date=12 December 2012 |archive-date=15 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515144925/http://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/book/bok-prize-recipients |url-status=live }}</ref> She was appointed as a fellow to the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] in 2012 and elected to the [[Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]] as an honorary member in 2013.<ref name="CV" /> In September 2013 she became a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Fellow]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 September 2013|title=Sara Seager: Astrophysicist {{!}} Class of 2013|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/903/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904083531/https://www.macfound.org/fellows/903/|archive-date=4 September 2019|access-date=13 September 2019|website=[[MacArthur Foundation]]}}</ref> She was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/election-new-members-2018-spring-meeting|title=Election of New Members at the 2018 Spring Meeting|website=American Philosophical Society|access-date=2 June 2018|archive-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223042357/https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/election-new-members-2018-spring-meeting|url-status=live}}</ref> She was the Elizabeth R. Laird Lecturer at [[Memorial University of Newfoundland]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gazette.mun.ca/public-engagement/holy-grail/|title=Holy Grail|last=Foss|first=Kelly|date=20 September 2018|website=Gazette – Memorial University of Newfoundland|language=en-CA|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707223423/https://gazette.mun.ca/public-engagement/holy-grail/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 19 August 2020 Seager appeared on the ''[[Lex Fridman#Lex Fridman Podcast|Lex Fridman Podcast]]'' (#116).<ref>{{Cite web|date=16 August 2020|title=#116 – Sara Seager: Search for Planets and Life Outside Our Solar System|url=https://lexfridman.com/sara-seager/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024002444/https://lexfridman.com/sara-seager/|archive-date=24 October 2020|access-date=1 April 2021|website=Lex Fridman}}</ref>

In 2020, she was appointed as an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|date=27 November 2020|title=Governor General Announces 114 New Appointments to the Order of Canada|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/activities/2020/governor-general-announces-114-new-appointments-order-canada|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123071759/https://www.gg.ca/en/activities/2020/governor-general-announces-114-new-appointments-order-canada|archive-date=23 January 2021|access-date=30 March 2021|website=[[Governor General of Canada]]}}</ref> She won the 2020 [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology|''Los Angeles Times'' Prize for Science and Technology]] for ''The Smallest Lights in the Universe.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Pineda|first=Dorany|date=17 April 2021|title=Winners of the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prizes announced|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-04-16/winners-of-the-2020-l-a-times-book-prizes-announced|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417011609/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-04-16/winners-of-the-2020-l-a-times-book-prizes-announced|archive-date=17 April 2021|access-date=2021-04-17|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US}}</ref>''

She was an honorary graduand at her alma mater, the [[University of Toronto]] Spring 2023 Convocation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 June 2023|title=Spring 2023 Convocation|url=https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/convocation/ceremonies?page=2}}</ref>

In 2024, Seager was awarded the [[Kavli Prize]] in Astrophysics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.kavliprize.org/?et_cid=5243269 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612164453/https://www.kavliprize.org/?et_cid=5243269 |archive-date=2024-06-12 |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=www.kavliprize.org}}</ref>

==Publications==
===Books===
* {{Cite book|title=Scientific Frontiers in Research on Extrasolar Planets|year=2003|isbn=1-58381-141-9|series=ASP Conference Proceedings (Volume 294)|location=San Francisco|bibcode=2003ASPC..294.....D|editor-last2=Seager|editor-first2=Sara|editor-last1=Deming |editor-first1=Drake |volume=294 |last1=Deming |first1=Drake |last2=Seager |first2=Sara }}
* {{cite book |last=Seager |first=Sara |title=Exoplanet Atmospheres: Physical Processes |isbn=9781400835300 |date=2010 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Seager |first=Sara |title=Exoplanets |isbn=978-0-8165-2945-2 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |date=2010}}
* {{cite book |last=Seager |first=Sara |title=The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir |isbn=978-0-5255-7625-9 |publisher=Crown |date=2020}}

===Journal articles===
* {{cite journal|last1=Seager|first1=S.|last2=Sasselov|first2=D. D.|title=Theoretical Transmission Spectra during Extrasolar Giant Planet Transits|journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]]|volume=537|issue=2|date=2000|pages=916–921|issn=0004-637X|doi=10.1086/309088|bibcode=2000ApJ...537..916S|arxiv=astro-ph/9912241|s2cid=15900986}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Seager|first1=S.|last2=Mallen-Ornelas|first2=G.|title=A Unique Solution of Planet and Star Parameters from an Extrasolar Planet Transit Light Curve|journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]]|volume=585|issue=2|date=2003|pages=1038–1055|issn=0004-637X|doi=10.1086/346105|bibcode=2003ApJ...585.1038S|arxiv=astro-ph/0206228|s2cid=14274640}}
* {{cite journal|title=GLIMPSE. I. AnSIRTFLegacy Project to Map the Inner Galaxy|journal=[[Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific]]|volume=115|issue=810|date=2003|pages=953–964|issn=0004-6280|doi=10.1086/376696|bibcode=2003PASP..115..953B|arxiv=astro-ph/0306274|last1=Benjamin|first1=Robert A.|last2=Churchwell|first2=E.|last3=Babler|first3=Brian L.|last4=Bania|first4=T. M.|last5=Clemens|first5=Dan P.|last6=Cohen|first6=Martin|last7=Dickey|first7=John M.|last8=Indebetouw|first8=Rémy|last9=Jackson|first9=James M.|last10=Kobulnicky|first10=Henry A.|author11-link=Alexandre Lazarian|last11=Lazarian|first11=Alex|last12=Marston|first12=A. P.|last13=Mathis|first13=John S.|last14=Meade|first14=Marilyn R.|last15=Seager|first15=Sara|last16=Stolovy|first16=S. R.|last17=Watson|first17=C.|last18=Whitney|first18=Barbara A.|last19=Wolff|first19=Michael J.|last20=Wolfire|first20=Mark G.|s2cid=119510724}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Deming|first1=Drake|last2=Seager|first2=Sara|last3=Richardson|first3=L. Jeremy|last4=Harrington|first4=Joseph|title=Infrared radiation from an extrasolar planet|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=434|issue=7034|date=2005|pages=740–743|issn=0028-0836|doi=10.1038/nature03507|pmid=15785769|arxiv=astro-ph/0503554|bibcode=2005Natur.434..740D|s2cid=4404769}}
* {{cite journal|title=Kepler Planet-Detection Mission: Introduction and First Results|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=327|issue=5968|date=2010|pages=977–980|issn=0036-8075|doi=10.1126/science.1185402|bibcode=2010Sci...327..977B|pmid=20056856|last1=Borucki|first1=WJ|s2cid=22858074|display-authors=etal|url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/17670/2/2.pdf}}
* {{cite journal|title=Characteristics of Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler, II: Analysis of the First Four Months of Data|journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]]|volume=736|issue=1|date=2011|pages=19|issn=0004-637X|doi=10.1088/0004-637X/736/1/19|bibcode=2011ApJ...736...19B|arxiv=1102.0541|last1=Borucki|first1=William J.|last2=Koch|first2=David G.|last3=Basri|first3=Gibor|last4=Batalha|first4=Natalie|last5=Brown|first5=Timothy M.|last6=Bryson|first6=Stephen T.|last7=Caldwell|first7=Douglas|last8=Christensen-Dalsgaard|first8=Jørgen|last9=Cochran|first9=William D.|last10=Devore|first10=Edna|last11=Dunham|first11=Edward W.|last12=Gautier|first12=Thomas N.|last13=Geary|first13=John C.|last14=Gilliland|first14=Ronald|last15=Gould|first15=Alan|last16=Howell|first16=Steve B.|last17=Jenkins|first17=Jon M.|last18=Latham|first18=David W.|last19=Lissauer|first19=Jack J.|last20=Marcy|first20=Geoffrey W.|last21=Rowe|first21=Jason|last22=Sasselov|first22=Dimitar|last23=Boss|first23=Alan|last24=Charbonneau|first24=David|last25=Ciardi|first25=David|last26=Doyle|first26=Laurance|last27=Dupree|first27=Andrea K.|last28=Ford|first28=Eric B.|last29=Fortney|first29=Jonathan|last30=Holman|first30=Matthew J.|s2cid=15233153|display-authors=29}}

==See also==
*[[List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|https://www.saraseager.com}}
* [https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/sara-seager/ Sara Seager] at [[MIT]]
* [http://www.thirteen.org/bigideas/seager.html Sara Seager] at [[WNET]]
* {{TED speaker}}
{{Astrobiology}}
{{Molecules detected in outer space}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Canada|Physics|Biology|Astronomy|Stars|Spaceflight|Outer space|Solar System|Science}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Seager, Sara}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian academics]]
[[Category:American women astronomers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian astronomers]]
[[Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Toronto]]
[[Category:Writers from Toronto]]
[[Category:Women planetary scientists]]
[[Category:Planetary scientists]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Astrobiologists]]
[[Category:Canadian women biologists]]
[[Category:Jewish Canadian scientists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Astronomical Society]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:People from Concord, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian biologists]]