Olin Jeuck Eggen (July 9, 1919 – October 2, 1998) was an American

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 ...

Biography

Olin Jeuck Eggen was born to Olin Eggen and Bertha Clare Jeuck in the village of Orfordville in

Rock County, Wisconsin Rock County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 163,687. Its county seat is Janesville. Rock County comprises the Janesville- Beloit, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Ma ...

. Both of his parents were of

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

extraction. He graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1940. After serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

, he returned to the university and received his Ph.D. in

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

in 1948. He became known as one of the best observational astronomers of his time. He is best known for a seminal 1962 paper with

Donald Lynden-Bell Donald Lynden-Bell CBE FRS (5 April 1935 – 6 February 2018) was a British theoretical astrophysicist. He was the first to determine that galaxies contain supermassive black holes at their centres, and that such black holes power quasars. Ly ...

and

Allan Sandage Allan Rex Sandage (June 18, 1926 – November 13, 2010) was an American astronomer. He was Staff Member Emeritus with the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California. He determined the first reasonably accurate values for the Hubble consta ...

which suggested for the first time that the

Milky Way Galaxy The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

had collapsed out of a gas cloud. He pioneered the now-accepted notion of

moving groups In astronomy, stellar kinematics is the observational study or measurement of the kinematics or motions of stars through space. Stellar kinematics encompasses the measurement of stellar velocities in the Milky Way and its satellites as well as t ...

, and introduced the idea that these may originate from dissolved

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...

s. He won the

Henry Norris Russell Lectureship The Henry Norris Russell Lectureship is awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of a lifetime of excellence in astronomical research. The idea for the lectureship came from then society President Harlow Shapley in 1945, ...

in 1985. Over that time he held positions at

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...

(1948–1956),

Royal Greenwich Observatory The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in G ...

(1956–1961),

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

Mt. Wilson Observatory The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles. The observ ...

(1961–1966),

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 ...

, Australian National Observatory (1966–1977), and at

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Tololo in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile, with additional facilities located on Cerro Pachón about to the southeast. It is approximately ...

(1977–1998). Eggen's professional memberships and honors include the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

's Russell Lectureship (1985), membership in the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

(vice president 1961-1962), Pawsey Memorial Lectureship of the

Australian Institute of Physics The Australian Institute of Physics was established in 1963, when it replaced the Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics based in London.

, member of the

Astronomical Society of Australia The Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) is the professional body representing astronomers in Australia. Established in 1966, it is incorporated in the Australian Capital Territory. Membership of the ASA is open to people "capable of contributi ...

(president 1971-1972), and member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. After his death he was found to have been in possession of highly significant historical files and documents that had apparently gone missing for decades from the

, including the "

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

file". During his lifetime he had always denied having taken the papers or having them in his possession. The University of Wisconsin-Madison retains a collection of Eggen's personal papers and correspondence. This collection includes material about the large scale developments in post-war astronomy and astrophysics, especially the creation of large (4 meter) optical telescopes in the southern hemisphere. The Eggen Archives are held in the Steenbock Library at University of Wisconsin–Madison Archives.

Olin J Eggen Scholarship

The Olin J Eggen Scholarship was established in 2000 to commemorate Eggen's contributions. The endowment supports a scholarship for international students seeking to pursue PhD research at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University.''Olin J Eggen Scholarship'' (Australian National University College of Physical Sciences

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Selected works

*''Three-colour photometry of 4000 northern stars'' (1968) *''Contact binaries, II'' (1967) *''Colours, luminosities and motions of the nearer giants of types K and M'' (1966) *''The empirical mass-luminosity relation'' (1963) *''Space-velocity vectors for 3483 stars with accurately determined proper motion and radial velocity'' ( 1962) *''Three-colour photometry in the southern hemisphere: NGC 6383, NGC 6405 and standard stars'' (1961) *''Three-colour photometry of red variables'' (1961)

References

External links

"A Remembrance of Olin Eggen — 1919–1998"
by Nicholas B. Suntzeff, 6 October 1998; ''NOAO Newsletter'', No. 56, December 1998. * , by Nick Kollerstrom, ''Neptune's Discovery: The British Case for Co-Prediction'', Science and Technology Studies, University College London.
"The Case of the Pilfered Planet"
by William Sheehan,

Nicholas Kollerstrom Nicholas Kollerstrom (born 1946) is an English historian of science and author who is known for the promotion of Holocaust denial and other conspiracy theories. Formerly an honorary research fellow in The Department for Science and Technology St ...

, and Craig B. Waff, ''Scientific American.com'', December 2004.

Obituaries

''Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific'', 113:131–135, January 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eggen, Olin 1919 births 1998 deaths University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American astronomers People of the Office of Strategic Services American people of Norwegian descent People from Orfordville, Wisconsin American military personnel of World War II