HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gart Westerhout (15 June 1927 – 14 October 2012) was a
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
-American astronomer. Well before completing his university studies at
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, he had already become well-established internationally as a radio astronomer in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, specializing in studies of radio sources and the
Milky Way Galaxy The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galaxy, which are ...
based on observations of radio continuum emissions and 21-cm spectral line radiation that originates in interstellar
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
. He emigrated to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, became a naturalized citizen, and held a number of important scientific and management positions in academic and government institutions.


Career

Westerhout was born in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, and studied at the
University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...
( Sterrewacht te Leiden) with Hendrik van de Hulst and
Jan Hendrik Oort Jan Hendrik Oort ( or ; 28 April 1900 – 5 November 1992) was a Dutch astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. ''The New York Times'' called him ...
. Contemporaries and colleagues in the Netherlands included Hugo van Woerden, C. Lex Muller,
Maarten Schmidt Maarten Schmidt (28 December 1929 – 17 September 2022) was a Dutch-born American astronomer who first measured the distances of quasars. He was the first astronomer to identify a quasar, and so was pictured on the March cover of ''Time'' mag ...
, Kwee Kiem King, Lodewijk Woltjer, and Charles L. Seeger, III (son of the
ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...
, brother of
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
and half-brother of
Mike Seeger Mike Seeger (August 15, 1933August 7, 2009) was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who mainly played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, ...
). While they were students, Wim Brouw, Mike Davis, Ernst Raimond, Whitney Shane and worked with him. He was awarded Physics and Astronomy degrees: Cand. (1950) and Drs. (1954) and was awarded a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Physics in 1958. Notable scientific achievements included: the significant Westerhout Catalog of continuum emission radio sources, by which "W" numerical designations such sources are still referenced (see for example Westerhout 49), done with the then-new Dwingeloo telescope; and his survey of neutral hydrogen in the outer parts of our Galaxy. His pioneering work, with colleagues, showed the first hints of spiral structure in the interstellar gas, revealed differential rotation in our Galaxy, and established a revised Galactic coordinate system still in use today. While still at Leiden University, he held the posts of Assistant (1952–56), Scientific Officer (1956–59, and Chief Scientific Officer (1959–62). Arriving in 1962 as the first Director of a fledgling Astronomy Program at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
(started by
Uco van Wijk Uco van Wijk (20 May 1924, Yogyakarta (city), Jogjakarta, Dutch East Indies – 10 August 1966) was a Dutch astronomer and educator who founded the astronomy program at the University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland and was in ...
), he grew it into a major department granting masters and doctorate degrees. On the research side the Line Survey, Maryland-Green Bank Galactic 21-cm undertaken with the 91-m radio telescope of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, not only extended to higher angular resolution our knowledge of Galactic structure, but also accomplished the training of graduate students who went on to notable achievements of their own. He continued at Maryland in that role through 1973, with additional responsibilities from 1972-73 as Chairman of the Division of Mathematical & Physical Sciences and Engineering. From 1973 to '77 he was Professor of Astronomy at the University of Maryland, temporarily becoming Visiting Astronomer at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn, Germany 1973-74. From 1977-1993 he was Scientific Director at the
U.S. Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the ...
in
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
. While there, he guided the evolution of that observatory toward astronomical data obtained from telescopes at the Flagstaff station, astrometric data produced by the techniques of radio interferometry and by innovative application of optical interferometry techniques (ground- and space-based.) Together with his wife Judith, he had 5 children – Magda Cathleen, Gart, Brigit, Julian, and Anthony. When Edward L. G. Bowell discovered
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
5105 Westerhout, he named it in Westerhout's honor.


Memberships

Memberships include
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
(IAU) (Commissions 33, 34, 40, 24 & 5), International Scientific Radio Union (URSI),
American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...
(AAS),
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
, and
Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...
. He contributed his scientific and management expertise widely, for example to IAU, National Science Foundation (NSF), AAS, National Research Council, Associated Universities Inc., Inter-Union Committee for the Allocation of Frequencies (IUCAF), URSI, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, MPIfR, MIT's Haystack Observatory, Arecibo Observatory, National Academy of Sciences.


Awards

Awards and special recognition have included a NATO Fellowship, CSIRO (Australia) Fellowship, Award for the Teaching of Science, Washington Academy of Sciences, Humboldt Prize, Listings in : Outstanding Educators of America, American Men and Women in Science, Who's Who in America.


Bibliography


Papers published in refereed journals

; Astronomy research * "A Comparison of the Intensity Distribution of Radio-Frequency Radiation with a Model of the Galactic System," (with J. H. Oort), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 11, 323, 1951. * "The Rotation of the Inner Parts of the Galactic System," (with K. K. Kwee and C. A. Muller), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 12, 211, 1954. * "Search for Polarization of the Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A at 22 cm Wavelength," Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 12, 309,1956. * "The Flux Densities of some Radio Sources at 400 Mc/s," (with C. L. Seeger and H. C. van de Hulst), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 13, 89, 1956. * "Continuous Radiation from the Direction of the Galactic Centre at 22 cm," Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 13, 105, 1956. * "A Catalogue of 21-cm Line Profiles," (with C. A. Muller), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 13, 151, 1957. * "The Distribution of Atomic Hydrogen in the Outer Parts of the Galactic System," Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 13, 201, 1957. * "Observations of Occulations of the Crab Nebula by the Moon at 400 Mc/s," (with C. L. Seeger), Bull Astron. Inst. Neth., 13, 312, 1957. * "Intensites Relatives des Quatre Principales Radiosources Observees sur la Longueur d'Onde 22 cm; Note sur la Radiosource Saggittarius A", Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, 245, 35, 1957. * "Observations of Discrete Sources, the Coma Cluster, the Moon, and the Andromeda Nebula at a Wavelength of 75 cm.," (with C. L. Seeger and R. G. Conway), Astrophys. J., 126, 585, 1957. * "A Survey of the Continuous Radiation from the Galactic System at a Frequency of 1390 Mc/s," Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 14, 215, 1958. * "Note on the Density of Ionized Hydrogen in the Galactic System," Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 14, 261, 1958. * "The Galactic System as a Spiral Nebula," (with J. H. Oort and F. J. Kerr), Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc., 118, 379, 1958. * "The New I.A.U. System of Galactic Coordinates," (with A. Blaauw, C. S. Gum and J. L. Pawsey), Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc., 121, 123, 1960. * "A 21-cm Determination of the Principal Plane of the Galaxy," (with C. S. Gum and F. J. Kerr), Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc., 121, 132, 1960. * "Die Durchmusterung Der Milchstrasse Und Die Quellendurchmusterung Bei 2.7 Gllz," (with W. Altenhoff, P. G. Mezger and H. Wendker), Veroffentl. Sternwarte 59, Bonn, November 1961. *"The Polarization of the Galactic 75-cm Radiation," (with C. L. Seeger, W. N. Brouw and J. Tinbergen), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 16, 187, 1962. *"The Structure of the Galaxy from Radio Observations," I.E.E.E. Trans., AP-12, 954, 1964. *"A Survey of the Continuous Radiation at 400 Mc/s," (with C. L. Seeger, R. G. Conway and T. Hoekema), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 18, 11, 1965. *"A Catalogue of Discrete Sources Observed at 400 Mc/s," (with M. M. Davis and L. Gelato-Volders), Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 18, 42, 1965. *"21-cm Line Emission in Open Clusters," (with W. E. Howard and C. Gordon), Astrophys. J., 154, 103, 1968. *"The Maryland – Green Bank Galactic 21-cm Line Survey" (with H.-U.Wendlandt), Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 49, 143, 1982. *"Telescope Beam Characteristics and Temperature Scale of the Maryland- Green Bank 21-cm Line Survey" (with G.L.Mader and R.H.Harten), Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 49, 137, 1982. *"Astrometry and Precise Time", with G.M.R.Winkler, Oceanus 33, 89–95. 1991 ;Instrumentation or techniques *"Table for the Reduction of Velocities to the Local Standard of Rest" (with D. A. MacRae), The Observatory, Lund, Sweden, 1956. *"A Method for Accurately Compensating for the Effects of the Error Beam of the NRAO 300-foot Radio Telescope at 21-cm Wavelength," (with H.-U. Wendlandt and R. H. Harten), Astron. J., 78, 569, 1973. *"Hydrogen 21-cm Line Temperature scale", (with R.H.Harten and F.J.Kerr), Astron.J., 80, 307, 1975


Papers presented at scientific meetings

; Invited papers *"Kosmische Bronnen Van Radiostraling," (with H. C. van de Hulst), Sterr. Coll. Ned. Astr. Club., 13, 1956. *"A 21-cm Line Survey of the Outer Parts of the Galaxy," In IAU Symp. 4, ch. 5, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1957. *"Progress Report on 21-cm Research by the Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy and the Leiden Observatory," In IAU Symp 4, ch. 4, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1957. *"Galactic Radiation and its Physical Interpretation", Introductory Report, Comm. V, URSI 13th General Assembly, London, 1960. *"A Summary of our Knowledge of the Neutral Hydrogen in Galaxies", In Problems of Extra-Galactic Research, McMillan and Co., New York, 1962. *"Current Radio Astronomical Research in the Netherlands", Proc.I.R.E. Austr., 24, 214, 1963. *"The Interpretation of Recent 21-cm Line Data in Terms of Large-Scale Galactic Structure," IAU Symp. 20, Australia, 1963. *"Observation and Interpretation of Optical and Radio Polarization," IAU Symp. 20, Australia, 1963. *"Three Years of Galactic Radio Astronomy," Proc. of URSI General Assembly, Tokyo, 1963. *"Brightness Temperatures Expected for a Radio Telescope with High Resolving Power," In Proc. OECD Symp. on Large Antennae, Paris, 1963. *"Site Requirements," In Proc. OECD Symp. on Large Antennae, Paris, 1963. *"The Early History of Radio Astronomy", In International Conference on Education in and History of Modern Astronomy, ed. R. Berendzen, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., 198, 211, 1972. *"Some Remarks on the Ideal Automated Observatory," In NRAO/IEEE/URSI Symp. on the Collection and Analysis of Astrophysical Data, ed. R. Burns, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl., 15, 327, 1974. *"The Influence of Acquisition Techniques on the Compilation of Astronomical Data", in IAU Colloquium 35 on Data Compilation, Strasbourg 1976, ed. Jaschek and Wilkins, Reidel, Dordrecht, Astrophys. and Space Sc. Lib 64, 49, 1977 *"Future Development in U.S. Naval Observatory Time Services", Proc. 9th Ann. PTTI meeting, NASA Tech. Mem. 78104, 1, 1978 *"Radio Astrometry and Other Accurate Astrometry Plans at the U.S. Naval Observatory", ESA Colloquium on European Satellite Astrometry, Padua, Ed. C.Barbiery and P.L.Bernacca, Universita di Padova 1979 *"Space Astrometry – its Impact on Astronomy and Astrophysics", Highlights of Astronomy Vol.5, 779, Ed. P.A.Wayman, Reidel Dordrecht 1980 *"Early Dutch Radio Astronomy", URSI General Assembly Comm. J, Washington 1981, Ed. W.T.Sullivan (not published). *"The Pioneers of HI", in "Seeing through the Dust", eds. A.R.Taylor, T.L.Landecker, A.G.Willis, Astron. Soc. Pacific Conf.Ser. 276, 3, 2002 *"The Start of 21-cm line Research: the Early Dutch Years", in "Seeing Through the Dust", eds. A.R.Taylor, T.L.Landecker, A.G.Willis, Astron. Soc. Pacific Conf.Ser. 276, 3, 2002 ; Contributed papers *"75-cm and 22-cm Continuum Surveys," In IAU Symp. 9, ch. 80, Stanford Univ. Press, 1959. *"75-cm Galactic Background Polarization: Progress Report," (with W. N. Brouw, C. A. Muller and J. Tinbergen), Astron. J., 67, 590, 1962. *"Radio Studies of HII Regions and Galactic Structure," (with M. Komesaroff), IAU Symp. 20, Australia, 1963. *"Galactic 21-cm Iine Observations at Green Bank," Astron. J., 69, 152, 1964. *"Preliminary Observations of 21-cm Line Emission in Open Clusters," (with W. L. Howard), Astron. J., 70, 688, 1965 (Abstract). *"The Maryland-Green Bank Galactic 21-cm Line Survey'", IAU Symp. 31, Noordwijk, Netherlands, 173, Acad. Press, 1967. *"A Motion Picture Film of Galactic 21-cm Line Emission," IAU Symp. 38, paper 19, ed. G. Contopoulos and R. Becker), Reidel, Dordrecht, 1970. *"A High-Resolution Polarization Survey of the North Polar Spur," (with D. Bechis), ln IAU Symp. 60, ed. F. J. Kerr and S. C. Simonson, Springer Verlag, 1974. *"Progress Report on the Maryland-Green Bank Galactic 21-cm Line Survey, In IAU Symp. 60, ed. F. J. Kerr and S. C. Simonson, Springer Verlag, 1974. *"The U.S.Naval Observatory Parallax Program" (with R.H.Harrington), Bull. d'Inf. Centre de Donnees Stell. 20, 24, 1981 *"Data on Time and Polar Motion: Immediate Accessibility" (with D.D.McCarthy), I.A.U. Colloq. 64, Automated Data Retrieval in Astronomy, Strasbourg, Ed. C.Jaschek, Reidel Dordrecht, 1982 *"U.S.Naval Observatory Parallaxes and the Fundamental Reference Frame – their Interaction with Hipparcos" (with J.A.Hughes), ESA Colloquium on Space Astrometry, Strasbourg 1982 *"Concluding Remarks," in IAU Symposium 109, Astrometric Techniques, H.K. Eichhorn and R. J. Leacock (eds), Reidel Dordrecht, 799–803, 1986 *"Fricke's Influence on the World of Astronomy," Celestial Mechanics 37, 345–348, 1985 *"The USNO/CALTECH Measuring Program" (with D. Monet), Bull d'Information du CDS 37, 75–78, 1989 *"Concluding Remarks," Bull d'Information du CDS 37, 91–92, 1989 *"Astrometry: New Vitality for an Ancient Science," Aerospace America 27, No. 10, 34–37, 1989 *"The Flagstaff Measuring Machine" (with D. Monet), in IAU Symposium 141, Inertial Coordinate System on the Sky, J.H.Lieske and V.K.Abalakin, Eds., Kluwer Dordrecht 1990 *"Concluding Remarks", in IAU Symposium 141, Inertial Coordinate System on the Sky, J.H.Lieske and V.K.Abalakin, Eds, Kluwer Dordrecht, 1990


Books or contributions to edited books

*"The Radio Galaxy," Sci. Am., 201, 45, 1959. *"The Mapping of the Galaxy," In Tomorrow was Yesterday, C.B.S., George Braziller, New York, 1964. *"Distribution of Interstellar Hydrogen," (with F. J. Kerr), ch. 8, in Stars and Stellar Systems, vol. 5, p. 166, Univ. of Chicago Press,1965 *"Radio Emission of the Galaxy," Comm. 40 report, IAU Trans. XII A, Acad. Press, 1965. *"Galactic Radio Astronomy," Comm. 40 reports on Astronomy, lAU Trans. XIVA, 460, Reidel, Dordrecht – Holland, 1970. *"Galactic Radio Emission in the 21-cm Line and the Continuum," In Galactic Astronomy, ed. H. Y. Chiu and A. Muriel, pp. 147–190, Gordon and Breach, 1971.


Technical reports and others

*"The Maryland-Green Bank Galactic 21-cm Line Survey," first edition, University of Maryland, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 1966. *"Maryland-Green Bank 21-cm Line Survey," second edition, University of Maryland Astronomy Program, 1969.


References


External links


Things Unseen: The Westerhout radio sourcesHoward Laster, Joseph Weber & Gart Westerhout in College Park, late 1960s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerhout, Gart 1927 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Dutch astronomers 20th-century American astronomers Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University University of Maryland, College Park faculty Scientists from The Hague Dutch emigrants to the United States