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Donald Edward Osterbrock | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1924-07-13)July 13, 1924 |
| Died | January 11, 2007(2007-01-11) (aged 82) |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Known for | star formation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy |
| Doctoral advisor | Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar |
| Doctoral students | Robert E. Williams |
Donald Edward Osterbrock (July 13, 1924 – January 11, 2007) was anAmericanastronomer, best known for his work onstar formation and on the history of astronomy.[1]
Osterbrock was born inCincinnati. His father was anelectrical engineer. He served with theUS Army in theSecond World War, making weather observations in the Pacific. He did undergraduate classes in physics at the University of Chicago as part of his weather training.
He was educated at theUniversity of Chicago, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in physics and a PhD in astronomy in 1952. He was a student ofSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar while working atUniversity of Chicago'sYerkes Observatory. His work there withWilliam Wilson Morgan andStewart Sharpless showed the existence of theMilky Way'sspiral arms.
He became apost-doctoral researcher, instructor and assistant professor at theCalifornia Institute of Technology until 1958. He was then appointed assistant professor at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison, received tenure there in 1959, and was promoted to full professor in 1961. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1960–1961.[2] In 1973 he moved from Madison to theUniversity of California at Santa Cruz, as Professor ofAstronomy andAstrophysics, and Director ofLick Observatory, a position he held until 1981. He remained on the faculty at UC Santa Cruz until his retirement in 1993. Thereafter,Emeritus Professor Osterbrock continued to make daily trips to his office on campus, to work on his research, to keep publishing, and to maintain an active role in the astronomical community.
At the time of his death he had authored 12 monographs on astronomy and the history of astronomy, including, in 1989 the influential textbookAstrophysics ofGaseous Nebulae andActive Galactic Nuclei, and the recently updated and revised 2nd edition (2006) written along withGary Ferland of theUniversity of Kentucky. Alongside his more than 150 articles on astronomy and astrophysics, he published 70 historical studies, biographical memoirs, and obituaries of major figures in nineteenth and twentieth century astronomy, and numerous book reviews.
Osterbrock's research included work on the nature ofionized gases around hot stars and studying activegalactic nuclei powered byblack holes.
Osterbrock received lifetime achievement awards from theAmerican Astronomical Society and theAstronomical Society of the Pacific. He was President of the American Astronomical Society from 1988 to 1990.
He died following aheart attack. He was survived by his wife of 54 years, Irene Hansen (1926-2019), and their son and two daughters.
