Charles Robert O'Dell explained

C. Robert O'Dell
Birth Name:Charles Robert O'Dell
Birth Date:1937
Birth Place:Hamilton County, Illinois
Nationality:American
Fields:Astrophysics
Thesis Title:Photoelectric Measurement and Interpretation of Radiation from Gaseous Nebulae
Thesis Year:1962
Doctoral Advisor:Donald E. Osterbrock
Awards:Order of Merit, Poland (1977)
Public Service Medal, NASA (1991)
Humboldt Prize (1996)
Doctor of Science, Illinois State University (2001)
Copernicus Astronomical Center Medal (2012)
Benedykt Polak Prize, Poland (2016)

Charles Robert O'Dell (born 1937) is an American observational astronomer and the founding Project Scientist of the Hubble Space Telescope.[1] He is currently the Distinguished Research Professor of Astrophysicsat Vanderbilt University[2] and Andrew Hayes Buchanan professor of Astrophysics (emeritus) at Rice University.[3]

Biography

He attended Illinois State University from 1955 to 1959 and received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1962.[4] In 1962–1963 was a Carnegie Institution for Science Fellow[5] at the combined Mt. Wilson Observatory and Palomar Observatory based in Pasadena, California. From 1963 to 1964 he was an Assistant Professorat the University of California at Berkeley.[6] In 1964-1972 he was at the University of Chicago, where he became a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Director of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory, and served as Chair of his department.

In 1972 he left his Chicago Professorship to become the lead scientist on the proposed Large Space Telescope,[7] later renamed the Space Telescope, and finally renamed the Hubble Space Telescope. As Project Scientist with NASA from 1972 to 1983 he successfully led the advocacy for its creation, in spite of initial community pessimism,[8] and its design as a scientific observatory.[9] He then led the formulation of policy for its scientific operation through the Space Telescope Science Institute[10] and the establishment of open access[11] to its data throughout the astronomical community. Later, he was a member of the Space Telescope Science Institute Council (2011–2017), serving as chair from 2013 to 2016.[12] His Hubble Space Telescope papers have been archived in Vanderbilt University's Heard Library Special Collections.[13]

In 1982 he became a Professor of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, retiring as Andrew Hayes Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics in 2000.[14] In his present position at Vanderbilt University,[15] he continues his career-long study of the interstellar medium. He has supervised the PhD theses of seven students.[16]

His early research concentrated on the misnamed planetary nebulae, (they are not planets, they only appear in small telescopes like our outer planets). He used observations and theory to establish their role in stellar evolution.[17] Much of his current activity is focused on the nearby star-formation region, the Orion Nebula.

In 1993 he used the Hubble Space Telescope to discover in the Orion Nebula a new class of objects, the proplyds, providing clear-cut proof that ordinary star formation includes disks fromwhich planets can form.[18] Since then, his research has concentrated on how these objects arecreated and interact with their natal material.[19]

An avid aviator, he participated as a pilot on the USA team in the FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships in 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1993.[20] As a mountaineer, he teamed in the 1960's with astronomers Donald Morton, George Wallerstein, and Lyman Spitzer on several first-ascents of mountains in British Columbia, Canada.[21]

Honors and awards

He is a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society[22] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[23] He received the NASA Public Service Medal in 1991 for his early leadership role on the Hubble Space Telescope. He was awarded a Doctor of Science degreefrom Illinois State University in 2001.[24] He received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland from the Polish State (1977), the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center Medal (2012),[25] and the Benedykt Polak Prize from the Warsaw Scientific Society (2016)[26] in recognition of his work in establishing the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. He is a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.[27] He received a Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation[28] in 1996.

Personal life

He is the father of Cynthia Dianne Rogers (1959–) and Nicholle Ann Hardage (1964–) from his marriage (1959–1979) to Elizabeth Ann Perry (née Welty) (1937–).

Books

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Smith . Robert . The Space Telescope . 1989 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge, England . 92–96. 0-521-26634-3 . 1.
  2. Web site: Vanderbilt Research Faculty . 2023-10-08 . Vanderbilt University . 27 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230927135409/https://as.vanderbilt.edu/physics-astronomy/people/?group=research-faculty . live .
  3. Web site: Rice University Physics. 2023-10-08. RiceUniversity. 10 October 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231010103847/https://physics.rice.edu/emeritus-faculty. live.
  4. Web site: Wisconsin Astronomy PhDs . 2023-10-08 . University of Wisconsin . 10 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231010103747/https://www.astro.wisc.edu/alumni/where-are-they-now/#1960-1969 . live .
  5. Web site: Carnegie Fellows . 2023-10-08 . Carnegie Institution for Science . 4 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230604002028/https://obs.carnegiescience.edu/research/recent-fellows . live .
  6. O'Dell . C. R. . The Planetary Nebula in the Globular Cluster M15 . Astrophysical Journal . July 1964 . 140 . 119 . 10.1086/147900. 1964ApJ...140..119O . free .
  7. Smith 1989, p. 93
  8. Smith 1989, p. 96
  9. Smith 1989, pp 102–110
  10. Smith 1989, pp.187–205
  11. Smith 1989, pp.187–205
  12. Web site: Space Telescope Science Institute Council . 2023-10-08 . AURA . 10 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231010103912/https://www.aura-astronomy.org/governance/space-telescope-institute-council/ . live .
  13. Web site: Hubble Space Telescope Papers . 2023-10-08. Vanderbilt University .
  14. Web site: VITA: C. Robert O'Dell . 2023-10-10 . www.vanderbilt.edu . 10 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231010103617/https://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/physics/cv/odell.html . live .
  15. Web site: Bio . 2023-10-10 . Vanderbilt University . en . 9 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230609211034/https://as.vanderbilt.edu/physics-astronomy/bio/ . live .
  16. Web site: PhD Students . 2023-10-08 . American Astronomical Society . 26 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230326105937/https://astrogen.aas.org/front/searchdetails.php?agnumber=3868 . live .
  17. O'Dell . C. R. . The Evolution of the Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae . Astrophysical Journal . July 1963 . 138 . 67 . 10.1086/147618. 1963ApJ...138...67O .
  18. O'Dell . C. R. . Discovery of New Objects in the Orion Nebula on HST Images: Shocks, Compact Sources, and Protoplanetary Disks . Astrophysical Journal . June 1993 . 410 . 696 . 10.1086/172786. 1993ApJ...410..696O . free .
  19. O'Dell . C. R. . Deciphering the 3D Orion Nebula-IV: The HH 269 Flow Emerges from the Orion-S Embedded Molecular Cloud . Astrophysical Journal . March 2021 . 909 . 2 . 97 . 10.3847/1538-4357/abe1b0 . 2102.00286 . 2021ApJ...909...97O . free .
  20. Web site: World Sailplane Aerobatics Competitions . 2023-10-08 . CIVA . 16 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220816212719/http://aerobaticcontestarchive.com/pilot?GUID=7956b3cd-0fa7-42e2-a517-bad0383f1dba . live .
  21. Morton . Donald . Mounts Petrie, Plaskett, and Walrus . American Alpine Journal . January 1968 . 16 . 170 .
  22. Web site: New AAS Fellows . 2023-10-08 . American Astronomical Society . 10 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231010103912/https://aas.org/press/aas-names-23-new-fellows-2022 . live .
  23. Web site: New AAAS Fellows . 2023-10-08 . American Association for the Advancement of Science . 27 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180627010121/https://www.aaas.org/elected-fellows . live .
  24. Web site: ISU Honorary Degrees . 2023-10-08 . Illinois State University . 10 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231010104001/https://grad.illinoisstate.edu/students/honorary/ . live .
  25. Web site: Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center Medal . 2023-10-08 . Copernicus Astronomical Center . 29 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230529030549/https://www.camk.edu.pl/en/about/ncac-medal/ . live .
  26. Web site: Benedykt Polak Prize. 2023-10-08. Explorers Club of Poland. 6 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230606225741/https://theexplorersclubpolska.pl/en/annual-reports/. live.
  27. Web site: Polish Academy of Sciences. 2023-10-08. Polish Academy of Sciences. 27 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230327210001/https://pan.pl/en/division-iii/. live.
  28. Web site: Humboldt Prize. 2023-10-08. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

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