Harm Jan Habing (born 31 October 1937 in

Tubbergen Tubbergen (; Tweants: ) is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Geography The following population centres can be found in Tubbergen: Politics As of the 2018 municipal election, the 19-seat municipal council of Tubbergen is co ...

, Overijssel, Netherlands) is a Dutch astronomer and emeritus professor of astrophysics at Leiden University.

Career

Habing studied at the University of Groningen, first chemistry and physics, after which he switched to astronomy. He obtained his doctorate in Groningen in 1968 with a thesis entitled ''Studies of physical conditions in HI regions'' supervised by Stuart Robert Pottasch and Hendrik Christoffel van de Hulst. In 1971 Habing was appointed lecturer in astrophysics at Leiden University and in 1979 he was promoted to full professor. He has been emeritus professor since 2003.

Ewine van Dishoeck Ewine Fleur van Dishoeck (born 13 June 1955, in Leiden) is a Dutch astronomer and chemist. She is Professor of Molecular Astrophysics at Leiden Observatory, and served as the President of the International Astronomical Union (2018–2021) and a ...

and Xander Tielens were among Harm Habing's PhD students. Harm Habing was Editor-in-Chief of ''

Astronomy & Astrophysics ''Astronomy & Astrophysics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. The journal is run by a Board of Directors representing 27 sponsoring countries plus a re ...

'' from 1996 to 2002. After his retirement, Habing wrote several books, including about the history of astronomy.

Research

Habing is known for his 1968 research into the far-ultraviolet (between 91 and 240 nanometers) radiation field in the space between the stars. Later at the Leiden Observatory, his interests included masers, late stages of stellar evolution (such as OH/IR stars), and star formation. Habing was principal investigator of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (

IRAS The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (Dutch: ''Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet'') (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 January 1983, its mission lasted ten mo ...

), which was launched in 1983 and has enabled many discoveries in the field of infrared astronomy. In 1988, Habing received the Gilles Holst Medal.

Things named after Habing

* ''Habing field'', a measure of the interstellar radiation field. * ''(5037) Habing'', asteroïd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habing, Harm Living people 1937 births 20th-century Dutch astronomers Academic staff of Leiden University Members of Academia Europaea