Sidney Van den Bergh, OC, FRS (born 20 May 1929 in Wassenaar) is a retired Dutch-Canadian astronomer. He showed an interest in science from an early age, learning to read with books on astronomy. In addition to being interested in astronomy. He also liked geology and

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. His parents got him science books, a telescope, and a microscope, although they wished him to pursue a more practical career and only follow astronomy as a hobby. He went to

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

in the Netherlands from 1947 to 1948. He then attended Princeton University on scholarship where he received his A.B. in 1950. In December 1950, he was living in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and evidencing an interest in Astronomy. He obtained an MSc from Ohio State University (1952) and a Dr. rer. nat. from the University of Göttingen (1956). He took a faculty position at Ohio State University from 1956 to 1958 before moving to Toronto in 1958 where he spent the first part of his career at the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) of the University of Toronto. At the DDO, he led innovations that included: expansion of the facilities, utilization of computers, and multicolor photometry. While his areas of focus have included the moon and other parts of the Solar System, he is best known for his work in extragalactic astronomy in which he has published original findings and reviews of

nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

star cluster Star clusters are large groups of stars. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters are more loosely clust ...

s, variable stars,

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

e and more recently, an update to the estimated age of the universe. He discovered

Andromeda II Andromeda II (And II) is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 2.22 light-year, Mly away in the constellation Pisces (constellation), Pisces. While part of the Local Group, it is not quite clear if it is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy or the Tr ...

. The second part of his career began in 1978 in Victoria, British Columbia, at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory where he was appointed director in 1977 and took office in 1978, remaining in that position until 1986 when he semi-retired and took the new role of principal research officer. He has served as President of the

Canadian Astronomical Society The Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA; french: link=yes, La Société Canadienne d'Astronomie) is a Canadian society of professional astronomers, founded in 1971 and incorporated in 1983. The society is devoted to the promotion and advanceme ...

and as Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union from 1972 to 1982. Beginning in 1982, he started serving as chairman and president of the board of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation in Hawaii.

Honours

Awards * Elected Fellow of the Royal Society (1988) * First National Research Council President's Science Medal (1988) *

Henry Norris Russell Lectureship The Henry Norris Russell Lectureship is awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of a lifetime of excellence in astronomical research. The idea for the lectureship came from then society President Harlow Shapley in 1945, ...

(1990) *

Killam Prize The Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize was established according to the will of Dorothy J. Killam to honour the memory of her husband Izaak Walton Killam. Five Killam Prizes, each having a value of $100,000, are annually awarded by the Canada Cou ...

(1990) * Appointed officer of the Order of Canada (1994) *

Carlyle S. Beals Award Carlyle may refer to: Places * Carlyle, Illinois, a US city * Carlyle, Kansas, an unincorporated place in the US * Carlyle, Montana, a ghost town in the US * Carlyle, Saskatchewan, a Canadian town ** Carlyle Airport ** Carlyle station * Carly ...

(1998) * Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal (2008) *

Gruber Cosmology Prize The Gruber Prize in Cosmology, established in 2000, is one of three prestigious international awards worth US$500,000 made by the Gruber Foundation, a non-profit organization based at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Since 2001, the G ...

(2014) Named after him *

4230 van den Bergh 4230 van den Bergh (Minor planet provisional designation, ''prov. designation'': ) is a highly elongated Hildian asteroid and member of the Schubart family from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 19 September 1973, by Du ...

, a distant Hildan asteroid *

Comet Van den Bergh A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

(discovered by Van den Bergh in 1974)

References

External links

Retired NRC Astronomer Wins Prestigious International Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van den Bergh, Sidney 1929 births Living people 20th-century Canadian astronomers Berg, Sidney van den Canadian Fellows of the Royal Society Officers of the Order of Canada Berg, Sidney van den Princeton University alumni Ohio State University alumni Berg, Sidney van den Ohio State University faculty University of Toronto faculty Berg, Sidney van den Berg, Sidney van den