Colin Stanley Gum (4 June 1924 – 29 April 1960) was an Australian

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 ...

known for his cataloguing of

emission nebula An emission nebula is a nebula formed of ionized gases that emit light of various wavelengths. The most common source of ionization is high-energy ultraviolet photons emitted from a nearby hot star. Among the several different types of emission n ...

e and the publication of his findings.

Early life and education

Gum was born at Quambi Hospital in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, son of Stanley Sturt Edgar Gum and Ivy Olive (née Storr), of

Appila, South Australia Appila (earlier known as Yarrowie) is a locality in the Mid North of South Australia east of the lower Flinders Ranges. It occupies much of the eastern half of the Hundred of Appila and a strip on the western side of the adjacent Hundred of Tar ...

. His father, a farmer who had served as a private in the Australian Imperial Force during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, died before Colin's birth. Gum received his BSc honours degree from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

in 1949, going directly to the

Mount Stromlo Observatory Mount Stromlo Observatory located in the west of Canberra, Australia, is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU). Australia's oldest telescope and several others at the observatory we ...

, based upon work conducted at which he was awarded his MSc from the University of Adelaide in 1951. He was awarded his PhD in 1955 by the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, one of the first recipients of this degree from that institution.

Career

Gum catalogued

e in the southern sky at the Mount Stromlo Observatory using wide field photography. Gum published his findings in 1955 in a study entitled ''A study of diffuse southern H-alpha nebulae'' which presented a catalog, now known as the

Gum catalog The Gum catalog is an astronomical catalog of 84 emission nebulae in the southern sky. It was made by the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum (1924-1960) at Mount Stromlo Observatory using wide field photography. Gum published his findings i ...

, of 85 nebulae or nebular complexes. Gum 12, a large area of nebulosity in the direction of the constellations

Puppis Puppis ("poop deck, stern") is a constellation in the southern sky. It was originally part of the Former constellations, traditional constellation of Argo Navis (the ship of Jason and the Argonauts), which was divided into three parts, the other ...

and Vela, was later named the Gum Nebula in his honour. Gum was part of the team, whose number included Frank John Kerr and

Gart Westerhout Gart Westerhout (15 June 1927 – 14 October 2012) was a Dutch-American astronomer. Well before completing his university studies at Leiden, he had already become well-established internationally as a radio astronomer in the Netherlands, spec ...

, that determined the precise position of the

neutral hydrogen The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is a spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of solitary, electrically neutral hydrogen atoms. It is produced by a spin-flip transition, which means the directio ...

plane in space. Gum was appointed Head of the Observational Optical Astronomy programme at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1959. He died in a skiing accident at

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

the following year.Encyclopedia of Australian Science
/ref> He was the brother-in-law of academic Fay Gale. The crater Gum on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him.

References

External links

Short biographyThe Cloud HuntersIllustrated Gum Catalog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gum, Colin Stanley 20th-century Australian astronomers 1924 births 1960 deaths Skiing deaths