Su-Shu Huang (, April 16, 1915 – September 15, 1977) was a Chinese-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

astrophysicist. A graduate of the

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

, Huang began his career with the study of the continuous absorption coefficients of two-

electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no ...

systems, but eventually his research focus turned to the study of

stellar atmosphere The stellar atmosphere is the outer region of the volume of a star, lying above the stellar core, radiation zone and convection zone. Overview The stellar atmosphere is divided into several regions of distinct character: * The photosphere, whi ...

radiative transfer Radiative transfer is the physical phenomenon of energy transfer in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The propagation of radiation through a medium is affected by absorption, emission, and scattering processes. The equation of radiative trans ...

, and

binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that ta ...

and multiple star systems. In subsequent years, Huang began to cover the topic of life on

extrasolar planet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

s and the prerequisites thereof, coining the term "

habitable zone In astronomy and astrobiology, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), or simply the habitable zone, is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure.J. F. Kast ...

" to refer to the region around a star where planets could support liquid water at their surfaces at a 1959 conference of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Education and career

A native of China, Huang earned his master's degree at Tsing Hua University, lecturing in astronomy at that institution from 1943 to 1947 before immigrating to the United States, earning a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Chicago in 1949. After teaching astronomy at that institution for the two following years, Huang became an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he stayed in before moving to the Goddard Space Flight Center in

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in 1959. Concurrent with his Goddard position, Huang was a member of Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton from 1960 to 1961, then a professor of astrophysics at the Catholic University of America from 1963 to 1964. In 1964, Huang became professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, though he stayed at Goddard until 1965. In his early years he studied two-electron systems, Huang later studied stellar atmospheres, radiative zones, and the dynamics of stars in binary or multiple star systems. Huang's research into the physics of stars later led him to delineate the types of stars that could support extraterrestrial life, leading to his coining of the term "habitable zone" and eventually his study of

planetary habitability Planetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to develop and maintain environments hospitable to life. Life may be generated directly on a planet or satellite endogenously or be transferred to it from ...

in a 1960 paper on the sizes of habitable planets. Huang's explorations into extraterrestrial life were also published in popular works, such as '' American Scientist'' and ''

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''.

Later life and legacy

Late in his life, Huang made two trips to China, in 1974 and 1977. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Beijing during the latter trip, on September 15. Two years after his death, the then newly discovered

main-belt asteroid The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...

3014 Huangsushu 3 (three) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cu ...

was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huang, Su-Shu 1915 births 1977 deaths American astrophysicists Tsinghua University faculty University of Chicago faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Catholic University of America School of Arts and Sciences faculty Northwestern University faculty University of Chicago alumni Zhejiang University alumni People from Changshu