Canadian Astronomer Trivia

The following is a selection of Canadian Astronomers' individual achievements.

Sidney van den Bergh (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Victoria) is a world leader in studying the distance, classification, nature and evolution of galaxies -- the basic building blocks of the universe.

Paul Boltwood, an amateur astronomer from Stittsville ON, has developed and applied sophisticated astronomical imaging techniques, making his small telescope outside Ottawa as powerful as the largest professional telescope of a generation ago; he is a winner of the international Amateur Achievement Award.

Richard Bond (Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto) is an internationally-known cosmologist who has contributed to our understanding of the universe -- especially using the cosmic microwave background radiation (the radiation left over from the Big Bang) to understand the properties of the universe.

Tom Bolton (University of Toronto) co-discovered the first example of a black hole in space. David Crampton and John Hutchings (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Victoria) discovered the first black hole in a galaxy other than our own.

Canadian astronomers Ermanno Borra and Paul Hickson developed a telescope with a giant rotating mirror of liquid mercury -- much cheaper than a conventional telescope of similar size.

Terence Dickinson (Yarker, Ontario) has written hundreds of newspaper articles, and more than a dozen books -- including NightWatch with over 300,000 copies printed; he has won international awards, and is a Member of the Order of Canada.

Martin Duncan (Queen's University, Kingston) and Scott Tremaine (now based in the US) did pioneering work on the nature, origin, and evolution of the billions of comet nuclei in the outer solar system.

Montreal astronomer Gilles Fontaine is internationally-known for his studies of white dwarfs -- burned-out stellar corpses such as our sun will be in five billion years.

Canadian-born astronomer Wendy Freedman is a leader of the Hubble Space Telescope's "key project" to determine the size scale and age of the universe.

Canadian astronomers Brett Gladman and J.J. Kavelaars have discovered almost half of the known satellites of Saturn.

The late Helen Sawyer Hogg (University of Toronto) was probably Canada's best-known astronomer, as a result of her internationally-recognized research on globular star clusters, her leadership in astronomical organizations, and her weekly article which appeared in Canada's largest newspaper for 40 years.

Canadian-born amateur astronomer David Levy has discovered or co-discovered over 20 comets, including Shoemaker-Levy 9 which crashed into Jupiter in 1994; he is also a prolific writer of books and articles on astronomy.

The late Andrew McKellar (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria) was the first to measure the temperature of interstellar space -- 2.4 degrees above absolute zero; this was actually the first measurement of the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.

The late Peter Millman was a world expert on meteors, using visual, radar, and spectroscopic techniques; he laid the groundwork for a whole series of important projects on meteors, meteorites, and meteorite impact craters.

Jack Newton, an amateur astronomer based in British Columbia, is a world leader in astronomical imaging techniques, using both film and electronic cameras; his work has appeared in many books and articles, and he was a recipient of the international Amateur Achievement Award.

The late John S. Plaskett (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria) discovered the most massive pair of stars known -- still known as "Plaskett's Star(s)". With colleague J.A. Pearce, he made the first accurate determination of the mass, size, and rotation of our Milky Way galaxy.

Quebec-born astrophysicist Hubert Reeves has been called "the Carl Sagan of the French language" as a result of his highly-praised and widely-read books and articles.

Ian Shelton (University of Toronto) discovered the brightest supernova in 400 years, on February 23, 1987.

Don Vandenberg (University of Victoria) is the most-cited (in research papers) astronomer in Canada, as a result of his fundamental work on the structure and evolution of stars.

The late Isabel Williamson, an amateur astronomer in Montreal, nurtured and trained a whole generation of amateur astronomers in Montreal, including comet discoverer David Levy.

The Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology is a leader in determining the fundamental properties of the universe through the study of distant galaxies; other teams of Canadian astronomers have used the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation for this same purpose.

Canadian astronomers have developed widely-used software for image analysis, notably Paul Stetson's DAOPHOT; they have also developed the Starry Night sky simulation software, which is used by amateur astronomers and students around the world.

More links:

Winners of the C.S. Beals Award
Historical Canadian Astronomers
Profiles of current Canadian astronomers
Canadian Astronomers profiled on the Virtual Museum of Canada
Back to Canadian Astronomy main page

with files from J.R. Percy(2003), University of Toronto