Miriam del Carmen Peña Cárdenas is a Chilean astronomer and cosmochemist whose research includes the chemical composition of interstellar clouds including H II regions and the planetary nebulae surrounding Wolf–Rayet stars. She is a professor and researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in the UNAM Institute of Astronomy.
Peña began her university studies in Chile, studying engineering, but moved to the National Autonomous University of Mexico to complete her bachelor's degree, and remained there for her graduate studies.
Peña is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. She was a 2007 winner of UNAM's Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Recognition.