William Wilson Morgan (January 3, 1906 – June 21, 1994) 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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and astrophysicist. The principal theme in Morgan's work was stellar and galaxy

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

. He is also known for helping prove the existence of spiral arms in our galaxy. In addition to his scientific achievements he served as a professor and as astronomy director for University of Chicago, and was the managing editor for

George Hale George Ellery Hale (June 29, 1868 – February 21, 1938) was an American solar astronomer, best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-lead ...

's Astrophysical Journal.

Scientific achievements

Along with Philip Keenan he developed the MK system for the classification of stars through their spectra. He also developed several

galaxy morphological classification Galaxy morphological classification is a system used by astronomers to divide galaxies into groups based on their visual appearance. There are several schemes in use by which galaxies can be classified according to their morphologies, the most f ...

systems, including the first systems to use the physical, quantifiable properties of galaxies, as opposed to simple, qualitative, eyeball estimates favoured by

Edwin Hubble Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. Hubble proved that many objects previousl ...

. He invented the now widely used classification cD for massive galaxies in the centres of

galaxy clusters A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second- ...

. In 1970, along with astronomer

Laura P. Bautz Laura Patricia (Pat) Bautz (1940–2014) was an American astronomer who worked for many years at the National Science Foundation, where she directed the Division of Astronomical Science. The Bautz–Morgan classification of galaxy clusters is na ...

, they created the still-used Bautz-Morgan classification scheme for clusters, which identifies those containing cD galaxies as the richest, type I clusters. He worked at

Yerkes Observatory Yerkes Observatory ( ) is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2018. Owner ...

for much of his career, including acting as its director from 1960 to 1963. Along with Donald Osterbrock and

Stewart Sharpless Stewart Sharpless (March 29, 1926 – January 19, 2013) was an American astronomer who carried out fundamental work on the structure of the Milky Way galaxy. As a graduate student at Yerkes Observatory he worked under William Morgan with fellow g ...

, he used distance measurements of O and B type stars to show the existence of

spiral arm Spiral galaxies form a class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae''Milky Way 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. ...

Galaxy. For a time, Morgan was managing editor of the Astrophysical Journal, a publication originally started by

to promote scientific cooperation between the world's astrophysicists.

Education

Morgan attended

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

but left just before the start of his senior year. He began working as a research assistant at

and started taking classes there (Yerkes is affiliated with the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

). Morgan graduated from the

in 1927 with a Bachelor of Science degree on the basis of transfer credits from Washington and Lee combined with his subsequent courses at

. While at UC/Yerkes, Morgan continued his post-graduate studies and received a doctorate in December 1931.

Professorship

Morgan continued on at the

and became an assistant professor in 1936, full professor in 1947, and was promoted to distinguished service professor in 1966. One of his early graduate students in

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

was

Nancy Grace Roman Nancy Grace Roman (May 16, 1925 – December 25, 2018) was an American astronomer who made important contributions to stellar classification and motions. The first female executive at NASA, Roman served as NASA's first Chief of Astronomy through ...

, who went on to become NASA's first Chief of Astronomy. Morgan was the chairman of the UC Department of Astronomy from 1960 to 1966.

Honors

Awards and honors *

Bruce Medal The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. It is named after Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American patroness of astronomy, and was fi ...

(1958) * Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1961) *Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

(1964) *

Henry Draper Medal The Henry Draper Medal is awarded every 4 years by the United States National Academy of Sciences "for investigations in astronomical physics". Named after Henry Draper, the medal is awarded with a gift of USD $15,000. The medal was established ...

of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

(1980) *

Herschel Medal The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award. It ...

(1983) *Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

(1985) Named after him *

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

3180 Morgan

References

External links