SETI Institute,
Facebook: RealAllPlanets,
Instagram:AllPlanets,
LinkedIn: Franck Marchis,
Twitter: AllPlanets,
Unistellar: Unistellar Optics,
YouTube: Franck Marchis YouTube Channel,
Recent Posts by Franck Marchis
Social Media
Did Proxima Centauri just call to say hello? Not really!
Greetings, Citizens of Earth! You’ve probably heard about the story, published in The Guardian, a respectable newspaper in the UK, about the potential discovery of an […]
Planetary Defense with the eVscope Network – First results
In March 2020, Joé Asencio joined the SETI Institute to develop the potential of the Unistellar network for Planetary Defense. Part of his work is to […]
Biography | Franck Marchis
Dr. Franck Marchis is a senior astronomer and Director of Citizen Science at the SETI Institute, Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Unistellar, and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of SkyMapper. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Toulouse, France, in 2000, Marchis moved to the United States to pursue his passion for astronomy and exploration. His research, published in Nature, Science, and other leading journals, includes notable discoveries such as the first triple-asteroid system in 2005, the binary Trojan asteroid Patroclus in 2006, the direct imaging of a Jupiter-like exoplanet in 2015, and major advancements in adaptive optics for 8-10m class ground-based telescopes, as well as citizen science using networks small telescopes.
Marchis has a strong commitment to science outreach and entrepreneurship. He joined Unistellar in 2017 as Chief Science Officer and became a scientific advisor for VR2Planets. In 2022, he founded Dope Space, a company focused on outreach, education, and entertainment for the New Space industry. In 2024, he co-founded and assumed leadership of SkyMapper, a decentralized platform providing continuous, global sky observations through cutting-edge astronomy and space data solutions.
He is a member of several prestigious science committees, including the GPI Steering Committee, the TMT Science Definition Team, the Frontiers editorial board, the Project Blue Advisory Board, and, since 2019, the IAA SETI Permanent Committee. With over 600 scientific publications to his name, Marchis has also trained numerous students and contributed as a consultant and interviewee for documentaries and films in English, French, and Spanish.
In recognition of his contributions to astronomy, the asteroid (6639) Marchis was named in his honor for his discovery of the first triple-asteroid system. In 2023, Marchis was elected a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences for his dedication to outreach and the search for life in the universe. The following year, he received the Carl Sagan Center Director’s Award for his excellence in SETI research, education, and outreach.
More information at SETI Institute.
An occultation by the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 1998 RO2 – Occultation par l’astéroïde géocroiseur 1998RO2
1998RO2 is a body classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid that has been and will be mentioned in the news in the next 2 weeks. With […]
Comet Atlas: A comet for all of us?
Finally! After several years of waiting we may soon have, in Comet ATLAS, a bright, naked-eyed comet passing by Earth. The last visitor to do this […]
Observe an Occultation by Asteroid Alikoski from San Francisco Bay Area Saturday evening
To all citizen astronomers, Are you at home like most of us? Good news, you can contribute to astronomy from your backyard on Saturday just after […]
MISSION UNISTELLAR : OCCULTATION PAR L’ASTÉROÏDE SIBERIA – UNISTELLAR MISSION : AN OCCULTATION BY SIBERIA ASTEROID
— Version française — The english version is available below. À tous les citizen astronomes d’Unistellar, Si vous possédez un eVscope et que vous souhaitez participer […]
Occultation by Nyanza on President Day across the US
Hello, If you have an eVscope and you want to participate to a scientific campaign on Presidents’ Day, this is something that may interest you. The asteroid […]
What to do tonight? Watch a type Ia supernova with your eVscope
There is a bright type Ia supernova in the elliptical galaxy NGC 4636 named 2020ue. Since its discovery by the Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki on January 12 2020, […]