Uuno Öpik (a.k.a. Uno Öpik; 19 October 1926 in

Tartu, Estonia Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

– 30 April 2005 in Bath, UK) was an Estonian-born atomic physicist most of whose adult life was spent in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and Great Britain. He was one of six children of Estonian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and astrophysicist

Ernst Öpik Ernst Julius Öpik ( – 10 September 1985) was an Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist who spent the second half of his career (1948–1981) at the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. He is best known for his pioneering work on solar sys ...

. His son is the British politician

Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik (, ; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the ...

Life and career

Uuno Öpik graduated from Tartu 1st Gymnasium in 1943. In 1943 his father Ernst moved the family to Danzig, and then to Swinemünde and finally to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. From 1946 to 1948 he studied at the

Baltic University The Baltic University in Exile was established in the displaced persons camps in Germany to educate refugees from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the aftermath of the Second World War. The University was established at Hamburg in the British Zon ...

. In 1948 the family moved to

, when his father joined the staff at the

Armagh Observatory Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate. In 2018, Armagh Obs ...

. In 1950 he became a member of Student Society Liivika. Öpik studied at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

(QUB), getting a BSc in mathematics in 1950, a BSc in physics in 1951, and a PhD in physics in 1954 with the thesis, "Quantal investigations of certain excitation and ionization processes" under the advisor David Bates. He worked as a research fellow at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

from 1955 to 1956, as a lecturer at the

University of Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

in Wales from 1956 to 1986 and at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

from 1960 to 1962. In 1962, he returned to QUB, where he served on the staff until retirement in 1986. His doctoral students included Raymond Flannery and Hugh Morrison.

Papers

Öpik was mainly interested in atomic physics and published over 20 scientific papers in that field. * 1967 ''The polarisation of a closed-shell core of an atomic system by an outer electron I. A correction to the adiabatic approximation'', Proc. Phys. Soc. 92, 566

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Öpik, Uuno Estonian physicists Scientists from Tartu Academics of the University of Bristol Academics of Aberystwyth University Academics of the University of Reading Oak Ridge National Laboratory people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Estonian World War II refugees 1926 births 2005 deaths