Qualified as a Doctor in 1984 and a Professor since 1997, Pierre Magain is active in several astrophysics research fields, notably the observation and study of quasars, gravitational mirages, exoplanets and the spectroscopy of stars and comets. He is today at the head of the ‘Astrophysics and Image Processing’ research unit and the administrative manager of the TRAPPIST project.

He also participates in several international research projects. He is in particular one of the founders of the COSMOGRAIL gravitational mirage project. From 2001 to 2009 he was the joint main investigator at the Belgian level for the search for exoplanets within the framework of the CoRoT space mission, a role which he has since ceded to Michaël Gillon.

He is equally a member of the International Astronomy Union and the European Astronomical Society.

Selection of publications

GILLON M., PONT F., MOUTOU C., BOUCHY F., COURBIN F., SOHY S., MAGAIN P., High accuracy transit photometry of the planet OGLE-TR-113b with a new deconvolution-based method, Astron. Astrophys., 459, 249–255, 2006

MAGAIN P., LETAWE G., COURBIN F., JABLONKA P., JAHNKE K., MEYLAN G., WISOTZKI L., Discovery of a bright quasar without a massive host galaxy, Nature, 437, 381–384, 2005

MAGAIN P., COURBIN F., SOHY S., Deconvolution with Correct Sampling, Astrophys. J., 494, 472–477, 1998

MAGAIN P., Heavy elements in halo stars: the r/s-process controversy, Astron. Astrophys., 297, 686–694, 1995

MAGAIN P., SURDEJ J., SWINGS J.-P., BORGEEST U., KAYSER R., Discovery of a quadruply lensed quasar - The 'clover leaf' H1413 + 117, Nature, 334, 325–327, 1988

MAGAIN P., Interstellar calcium towards supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, Nature, 329, 606–607, 1987