Colin Stanley Gum (4 June 1924 – 29 April 1960) was an Australian
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
known for his cataloguing of
emission nebulae and the publication of his findings.
Early life and education
Gum was born at Quambi Hospital in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, son of Stanley Sturt Edgar Gum and Ivy Olive (née Storr), of
Appila, South Australia
Appila (earlier known as Yarrowie) is a locality in the Mid North of South Australia east of the lower Flinders Ranges. It occupies much of the eastern half of the Hundred of Appila and a strip on the western side of the adjacent Hundred of Tar ...
. His father, a farmer who had served as a private in the
Australian Imperial Force during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, died before Colin's birth.
Gum received his BSc honours degree from the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
in 1949, going directly to the
Mount Stromlo Observatory
Mount Stromlo Observatory located just outside Canberra, Australia, is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU).
History
The observatory was established in 1924 as The Commonwea ...
, based upon work conducted at which he was awarded his MSc from the University of Adelaide in 1951. He was awarded his PhD in 1955 by the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, one of the first recipients of this degree from that institution.
Career
Gum catalogued
emission nebulae in the southern sky at the Mount Stromlo Observatory using wide field photography. Gum published his findings in 1955 in a study entitled ''A study of diffuse southern H-alpha nebulae'' which presented a catalog, now known as the
Gum catalog
The Gum catalog is an astronomical catalog of 84 emission nebulae in the southern sky. It was made by the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum (1924-1960) at Mount Stromlo Observatory using wide field photography. Gum published his findings i ...
, of 85 nebulae or nebular complexes. Gum 12, a large area of nebulosity in the direction of the constellations
Puppis
Puppis is a constellation in the southern sky. Puppis, the Latin translation of "poop deck", was originally part of an over-large constellation Argo Navis (the ship of Jason and the Argonauts), which centuries after its initial description, was ...
and
Vela, was later named the
Gum Nebula
The Gum Nebula (Gum 12) is an emission nebula that extends across 36° in the southern constellations Vela and Puppis. It lies approximately 450 parsecs from the Earth. Hard to distinguish, it was widely believed to be the greatly expanded (an ...
in his honour. Gum was part of the team, whose number included
Frank John Kerr and
Gart Westerhout
Gart Westerhout (15 June 1927 – 14 October 2012) was a Dutch-American astronomer. Well before completing his university studies at Leiden, he had already become well-established internationally as a radio astronomer in the Netherlands, spec ...
, that determined the precise position of the
neutral hydrogen
The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation has a precise frequency of , w ...
plane in space.
Gum was appointed Head of the Observational Optical Astronomy programme at the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
in 1959. He died in a skiing accident at
Zermatt
Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
the following year.
Encyclopedia of Australian Science
/ref> He was the brother-in-law of academic Fay Gale. The crater Gum on the Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
is named after him.
References
External links
Short biographyThe Cloud HuntersIllustrated Gum Catalog
20th-century Australian astronomers
1924 births
1960 deaths
Skiing deaths
{{Australia-scientist-stub