Guillermo Haro Barraza (; 21 March 1913 – 26 April 1988) was a Mexican astronomer. Through his own astronomical research and the formation of new institutions, Haro was influential in the development of modern

observational astronomy Observational astronomy is a division of astronomy that is concerned with recording data about the observable universe, in contrast with theoretical astronomy, which is mainly concerned with calculating the measurable implications of physical ...

in Mexico. Internationally, he is best known for his contribution to the discovery of

Herbig–Haro object Herbig–Haro (HH) objects are bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars. They are formed when narrow jets of partially ionised gas ejected by stars collide with nearby clouds of gas and dust at several hundred kilometres per s ...

Early life

was born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

on 21 March 1913 to Ignacio Haro and Leonor Barraza. He studied philosophy and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). While working as a reporter for ''

Excélsior ''Excélsior'' is a daily newspaper in Mexico City. It is the second oldest paper in the city after '' El Universal'', printing its first issue on March 18, 1917. History ''Excélsior'' was founded by Rafael Alducin and first published in Mexic ...

'', Haro became interested in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

after a 1937 interview with

Luis Enrique Erro Luis Enrique Erro (January 7, 1897 – January 18, 1955) was a Mexican astronomer, politician, and educational reformer. Born in Mexico City, Erro studied civil engineering and accounting, among other subjects. He occupied the post of head of ...

. As a result of his dedication and enthusiasm for astronomy, he was hired by Erro in 1943 as an assistant at the newly founded Observatorio Astrofísico de Tonantzintla. Erro arranged for Haro to further his astronomical training in the United States at the

Harvard College Observatory The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...

, Case Observatory (1944),

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 ...

and

McDonald Observatory McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, with additional faci ...

(1945 to 1947).

Career

Upon his return to Mexico in 1945, Haro continued working at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Tonantzintla where he was responsible for the commissioning of the new 24-31-inch Schmidt camera and where he became involved in the study of extremely red and extremely blue stars. In 1947 he started working for the Observatorio de

Tacubaya Tacubaya is a working-class area of west-central Mexico City, in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo, consisting of the '' colonia'' Tacubaya proper and adjacent areas in other colonias, with San Miguel Chapultepec sección II, Observatorio, Daniel Ga ...

of the

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...

Haro's contributions to observational astronomy, Among them were the detection of a large number of

planetary nebula A planetary nebula (PN, plural PNe) is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer because they are unrelate ...

e in the direction of the galactic center and the discovery (also independently done by

George Herbig George Howard Herbig (January 2, 1920 – October 12, 2013) was an American astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. He is perhaps best known for the discovery of Herbig–Haro objects. Background Born in 1920 in Wheeling ...

) of the nonstellar condensations in high density clouds near regions of recent star formation (now called

s). Haro and co-workers discovered

flare star A flare star is a variable star that can undergo unpredictable dramatic increases in brightness for a few minutes. It is believed that the flares on flare stars are analogous to solar flares in that they are due to the magnetic energy stored in th ...

s in the Orion nebula region, and later on in stellar aggregates of different ages. Other major research projects carried out by Haro included the list of 8746 blue stars in the direction of the north

galactic pole The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane parallel to an ap ...

published jointly with W. J. Luyten in 1961. Work made with the 48-inch Palomar Schmidt using the three-color image technique developed at Tonantzintla. At least 50 of these objects turned out to be quasars (which had not yet been discovered in 1961). Haro's list of 44 blue galaxies, compiled in 1956, was a precursor to the work of Benjamin Markarian and others in searching for such galaxies. Haro also discovered a number of

T Tauri star T Tauri stars (TTS) are a class of variable stars that are less than about ten million years old. This class is named after the prototype, T Tauri, a young star in the Taurus star-forming region. They are found near molecular clouds and ide ...

s, one supernova, more than 10 novae, and one

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

Major accomplishments

Haro was very influential in the development of astronomy in Mexico, not only by virtue of his own astronomical research but also by promoting the development of new institutions. In a more important aspect he defined modern astrophysical research in Mexico where he gave impulse to different initial lines of research and established general scientific policies. Guillermo Haro discovered a new type of large planetary nebula with Hawaiian colleague George Herbig - that were named Herbig-Haro objects. Haro became a member of the Colegio Nacional at age 40, the youngest person to do so. In 1959, Haro became the first person elected to the

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

from Mexico. Amongst his students were Silvia Torres-Peimbert and Manuel Peimbert. Haro founded the Mexican Academy of Sciences (first president 1960) and the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (an observatory named after him is in the state of Sonora).

Recognition

Galaxy Haro 11 (H11) is a small galaxy situated in the southern constellation of

Sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and is named after Haro who first included it in a study published in 1956. The ''Guillermo Haro International Program on Advanced Astrophysical Research'' at INAOE, which was created in August 1995, was named after him. On 21 March 2018, 105 years after his birth, Google featured Haro in a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

.Smith, K. N. (2013-03-21). Wednesday's Google Doodle Celebrates Astronomer Guillermo Haro. Forbes, 21 March 2018. Retrieved on 2018-03-21 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/03/21/wednesdays-google-doodle-celebrates-astronomer-guillermo-haro/#1e8fc1f85d06.

Personal life

In 1968, Haro married journalist and writer

Elena Poniatowska Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska () is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on th ...

, with whom he had two children: Felipe and Paula. He was previously divorced from his first wife, Gladys Learn Rojas. Haro died on 27 April 1988 in Mexico City, and is interred at the Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres of the Panteón Civil de Dolores.

References

External links

Guillermo Haro Observatory
In Spanish.
Guillermo Haro International Astrophysics Program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haro, Guillermo 1913 births 1988 deaths Members of El Colegio Nacional (Mexico) Mexican astronomers People from Mexico City National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Harvard University staff 20th-century astronomers Recipients of the Lomonosov Gold Medal Foreign Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society