Canada's most respected astronomer
Area of expertise:
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Education/training backgroundSidney van den Bergh began his academic journey with a year at Leiden University before transferring to Princeton University, where he obtained his bachelor's degree. Van den bergh studied a master's degree at The Ohio State University, and he completed his doctorate in 1956 at Göttingen. After two years back at Ohio State, he served as a professor at the University of Toronto for nineteen years. Since 1978, he has been associated with the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, initially as director until 1986 and later as a researcher. He formally retired in 1998.
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Birth
Date of birth: May 20, 1929
Place of birth: Wassenaar, Netherlands |
"I was already interested in astronomy when I was in kindergarten and I learned to read from astronomy books. It sort of never occurred to me that there was ever any other choice in life. There was just some gene I had I guess that made me interested in it."
-Sidney Van Den Bergh
More About Sidney Van Den Bergh:
Historical significance: Sidney Van Den Bergh has explored the moon and various regions of the Solar System, but his notable contributions are in extragalactic astronomy. He is known for his original research and writing on nebulae, star clusters, variable stars, supernovae, and, more recently, an updated estimate of the universe's age, he has made a lasting impact in this field.
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Major and/or minor discovery: Across a span of 50 years, van den Bergh has authored or co-authored over 500 papers, establishing himself as Canada's most esteemed astronomer. He is significant for many things like his discoveries for the identification of dwarf galaxies circling the Andromeda Galaxy, the recognition of a jet-like feature in the Crab Nebula, and he also named a comet after himself.
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