After secondary studies at the Lycée Berthollet in Annecy, he entered preparatory classes at the Lycée du Parc in Lyon, then at the École normale supérieure in Paris .
State thesis: Measurement of pulsar distance by absorption 21 cm 1972
He spent several stays at Princeton and Bell Laboratories. He became an astronomer at Paris Observatory and at the École normale supérieure. Pierre Encrenaz was a professor at the Pierre et Marie Curie University and a researcher at the Laboratory for the Study of Radiation and Matter in Astrophysics. Currently, Pierre Encrenaz is a university professor and emeritus at Paris Observatory.
Scientific works
Construction of millimetric receivers for ground-based radio telescopes
Construction of submillimetre receivers for on-board radio telescopes
The technologies used began with Schottky diodes, then with superconducting diodes and required the construction of closed helium circuit cryogenerators, the creation of laboratories dedicated to the manufacture of diodes, the assembly of diodes in mixers and their integration into cryogenic systems.
The last receiver delivered to the European Space Agency for the Herschel satellite HIFI instrument covers the 480/620 Gigahertz frequency band and has performance close to the quantum limit. It operated from 2009 to 2013.
The instruments developed were used for observations of molecules in the interstellar medium, in comets, but also in the Earth's atmosphere. Attempts to observe primordial molecules were made with Italian and Swedish colleagues and the participation of Jean-Yves Daniel.
Pierre Encrenaz's scientific work focuses on the physics of the interstellar medium in our galaxy and a few nearby galaxies. Installation of a microwave laboratory at the ENS and Meudon to observe the Earth's atmosphere, the atmosphere of several planets and the interstellar medium in millimetres and submillimetres. Several technology transfers have been carried out. They are divided into three periods:
Microwave dielectric constant of Titan-relevant materials
.........P Paillou, J Lunine, G Ruffié, P Encrenaz... - Geophysical..., 2008 - Wiley Online Library
Cassini RADAR: prospects for Titan surface investigations using the microwave radiometer
........RD Lorenz, G Biolluz, P Encrenaz, MA Janssen... - Planetary and Space..., 2003 - Elsevier
Microwave dielectric constant of liquid hydrocarbons: Application to the depth estimation of Titan's lakes
..., J Lunine, R Lopes, P Encrenaz - Geophysical..., 2008 - Wiley Online Library
Remote sensing of a comet at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths from an orbiting spacecraft
..., J Crovisier, D Despois, P Encrenaz... - Planetary and Space..., 2007 - Elsevier
Titan's surface at 2.18-cm wavelength imaged by the Cassini RADAR radiometer: Results and interpretations through the first ten years of observation
..., SJ Keihm, M Choukroun, C Leyrat, PJ Encrenaz... - Icarus, 2016 - Elsevier He is the author or co-author of several books:
Interstellar molecules : 1974.
Coherent detection techniques at mm and submm wavelength and their applications in 1976.
Re-found the University in 2009.
Functions and distinctions
President of the ministerial mechanism "Science at School": provision of experimental teaching materials in secondary schools, organization of the EUCYS, C'GENIAL, International Olympiad of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Life and Earth Sciences competitions.
Creation of the ERA 762 CNRS, then of the LA 336 which became a department of the Observatoire de Paris.
