UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

AS/SCP/1134

COMMITTEE ON THE FACULTY RESEARCH LECTURE

ANNUAL REPORT, 1995-96

To the Santa Cruz Division:

The Committee on the Faculty Research Lecture is very pleased to recommend Donald E. Osterbrock, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Fellow of Crown College as Faculty Research Lecturer for the 1996-97 academic year.

Professor Osterbrock received his Bachelor, Masters, and Doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago. Before coming to UC Santa Cruz in 1973, he was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin and before that on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology. When he arrived at UCSC in 1973, he assumed the position of Director of the Lick Observatory, a position he held until1981. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton for two years and the Ambrose Monell Fellow in Natural Sciences of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the University of Chicago Professional Achievement Award from their Alumni Association. In 1986, he was granted an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by Ohio State University. In 1992, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Chicago. In 1991, he was awarded the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the highest award that they confer. He also received in 1991 the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society, which is the highest award that that Society bestows on an American astronomer. Professor Osterbrock is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has served as Chair for the Academy of the Class of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. From 1988-1990 he was president of the American Astronomical Society. This is only a small sampling of the numerous honors, visiting positions, and professional services of Professor Osterbrock over his career.

Professor Osterbrock's research career has spanned a considerable range of topics, and his contributions in a number of fields have been extraordinarily important and influential. Shortly after obtaining his Ph.D., he turned his attention to the question of the internal structure of the sun. At that time there was no satisfactory theoretical explanation of why the sun was the way it was. By a reconsideration of the mode of energy transport within the sun Professor Osterbrock was able to construct a theoretical model that matched the observed sun. He introduced a zone that transported energy by mass motions in the outer parts of the sun, and that convective zone resulted in a complete structure change that made the model match the sun precisely. Not only was this a major advance in itself, but it had a profound influence on our understanding of the structure of the stars in general, and led to the first detailed and satisfactory modeling of evolved stars, such as red giants and super giants. Professor Osterbrock subsequently addressed another major problem concerning our sun. The temperature at the surface of the sun is actually a minimum, and as one proceeds higher up into the outer atmosphere of the sun the temperature begins to rise again, reaching very high temperatures in the outer atmosphere. Professor Osterbrock showed that this heating was a result of the dissipation of mechanical energy traveling from the convective zone inside the sun. Compression waves were set up in the outer parts of the star, and these waves travel out into the solar atmosphere and beyond and deposit energy in the external regions, heating them considerably. Following these theoretical investigations, Professor Osterbrock turned his attention to the marriage of our theoretical understanding of atomic physics and our observations of gas in space. During the 1950s enormous advances were made in our understanding of the detailed structure of atoms through the application of then-modern computing techniques. Professor Osterbrock was one of the leaders in using the theoretical data on atoms obtained from these calculations to allow us to understand gaseous nebulae, those regions in space between the stars that shine as a result of stars imbedded in them. This led to fundamental insights into the nature of these nebulae, such as how they are heated, how they are cooled, and the chemical composition of elements in them.

In more recent years, especially since coming to UCSC, Professor Osterbrock has extended his research to regions beyond our galaxy. Specifically, he has been one of the world's leaders in the observational study of active galaxies, those galaxies that admit tremendous amounts of energy from a source located in their centers. Combining extensive observations at Lick Observatory with the application of theoretical physics, Professor Osterbrock was able to considerably advance our understanding of these important objects in space, and many of his results form the cornerstones of our understanding of these extremely energetic objects. From our sun, through the interstellar medium, to some of the most distant and energetic objects in the universe, Dr. Osterbrock's subjects of investigation cover an enormous range, and throughout all of this, his contributions have always placed him as one of the leaders, if not the very leader, in the field. It is impossible to overestimate the significance of these contributions.

Professor Osterbrock has written a number of books. The most significant of these from a research standpoint is his classic Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei. This work incorporates his understanding, knowledge, and research on these topics in a book that has set the standard for the entire field. Not only is it widely used as a graduate textbook, but, in fact, all active researchers in the field have it on their shelves and consult it regularly for guidance. His other books reflect a more recent interest: the historical development of modern astronomy. These include biographies of the great astronomer Keeler, a former Director of the Lick Observatory, and Ritchey, one of the pioneers in telescope development.

Professor Osterbrock has achieved a very high international reputation for his research, but at the same time he has been deeply involved in the education process. He has supervised over 20 Ph.D. theses, and these former thesis students represent many of the leaders in astronomy, not only in scientific research, but also leaders in the direction of observatories and scientific institutions. After coming to UC Santa Cruz and assuming the position of Director of the Lick Observatory, he played a major and effective leadership role in the evolution of the Observatory over the eight years in which he was Director. During that time there was a revolution in the way optical instruments detect light, which led to a modernization of facilities on Mt. Hamilton, which Professor Osterbrock encouraged and supported. He was also involved at the critical, early stages of what were to become the 10-meter telescopes at Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The early stages of this project were both technically and politically complex, and Professor Osterbrock performed a very effective role in guiding it toward its conclusion in what are now the largest telescopes in the world.

In summary, Professor Osterbrock's contributions to scientific research in a variety of fields, his leadership in the scientific community, and his deep involvement in the educational process have led him to become one of the world's outstanding figures in the field of astronomy in the second half of the 20th century. In appreciation for his extraordinary, rich, and vital record of achievement, the Committee moves that he be appointed Faculty Research Lecturer for 1996-97.

The Committee wishes to extend its appreciation to the Director of Lick Observatory, Joseph S. Miller, for his invaluable contribution to the preparation of this report.

Respectfully submitted,

COMMITTEE ON THE FACULTY RESEARCH LECTURE, 1995-96

Robert Garrison
Chip Lord
Mark Traugott
Adrienne Zihlman
Harry Berger, Jr., Chair

September 27, 1996