Donald E. Osterbrock Papers
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8xk8m07 No online items Donald E. Osterbrock Papers Debra Roussopoulos University of California, Santa Cruz 2013 1156 High Street Santa Cruz 95064 [email protected] URL: http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll Note Finding aid revised March 2020 to reflect new accrual. Donald E. Osterbrock Papers UA.40 1 Contributing Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz Title: Donald E. Osterbrock papers Creator: Osterbrock, Donald E. Identifier/Call Number: UA.40 Physical Description: 79 Linear Feet137 archives boxes, 2 cartons Date (bulk): 1950-2006 Abstract: This collection contains Dr. Donald E. Osterbrock's activities as astronomer and science writer, director of the Lick Observatory, and Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Stored offsite at NRLF: Advance notice is required for access to the papers. Language of Material: English . Access Collection open for research. Publication Rights Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication. Preferred Citation Donald E. Osterbrock papers. UA40. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. Biography / Administrative History Donald E. Osterbrock (1924-2007) was the director of Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton in California, an astronomer, and historian of science. Osterbrock studied the birth of stars and luminous clouds of gas at the core of galaxies outside the Milky Way known as gaseous nebulae. In his textbook for graduate students, Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei (1989), he explained the phenomenon and also described events going on at the center of external galaxies. The book includes descriptions of quasars, the distant and massive black holes whose brightness can sometimes be detected through optical telescopes from Earth. In 2006, the text was published in a revised edition with another astronomer, Gary J. Ferland. In the early 1950s, while still a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Dr. Osterbrock helped determine the spiral shape of the Milky Way in observations at the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. Working with William W. Morgan and others, he used a wide-angle camera to detect clouds of glowing hydrogen gas and trace the spiraling arms of the galaxy. The landmark discovery was announced at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in 1951. Late in his career, Dr. Osterbrock augmented his research with historical studies and intellectual biographies of prominent astronomers of the 19th and 20th centuries. He wrote profiles of James E. Keeler and Walter Baade as well as a book-length study, Pauper and Prince: Ritchey, Hale and Big American Telescopes (1993). Donald Edward Osterbrock was born in Cincinnati on July 13, 1924. He earned his doctorate in astronomy from the University of Chicago in 1952. After teaching briefly at Princeton and the California Institute of Technology, he joined the University of Wisconsin as an assistant professor of astronomy in 1958. Dr. Osterbrock was named a professor of astronomy at Wisconsin in 1961 and remained until 1973. He was director of Lick Observatory from 1973 to 1981, and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, from 1973 to 1992. He became a professor emeritus there in 1993. He served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 1988 to 1990. The Royal Astronomical Society awarded him a gold medal in 1997. Dr. Osterbrock died on Jan. 11, 2007 in Santa Cruz, Calif. He was 82. Excerpt, The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/obituaries/27osterbrock.html Scope and Content of Collection The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, meeting files and minutes, notebooks, biographies, obituaries, photographs, negatives, reprints, research files, and observing records. Arrangement Donald E. Osterbrock Papers UA.40 2 The collection adheres to the original order organized by the creator. Original folder titles were retained when possible. Note to the researcher: The collection was received in multiple accruals and processed by MPLP standards. The first accrual was minimally processed and was housed off-site when processing began on the second and third accrual. Information on a particular person or subject may be found in more than one location in the finding aid. Processed by: UCSC Special Collections and Archives Date Completed: 2015 Encoded by: Debra Roussopoulos Related Materials UA36 Lick Observatory Records Subjects and Indexing Terms Astronomy--United States--History Faculty Papers Osterbrock, Donald E. Accrual 1 circa 1954-2007 Biographical 1980-1985 box:folder 1:1 Donald E. Osterbrock 1980-1985 box:folder 1:2 Invitations 1990-1994 box:folder 1:3 University of Wisconsin, Washburn Observatory - Annual reports 1965-1973 box:folder 1:4 UC Santa Cruz 1969-1972 box:folder 1:5 Inaugural lecture 1976 box:folder 1:6 Observation requests 1973-1982 box:folder 1:7 Colloquium Notes 1965-1982 box:folder 1:8 UC Santa Cruz - Sabbatical leaves 1985-1992 box:folder 1:9 Joseph J. Murphy - Correspondence ca. 1970-1999 UCSC and Lick Observatory 1973-2006 box:folder 1:10 UCSC Meetings and dinners 1973-1977 box:folder 1:11 Nickel, Anna L. - Estate and telescope 1976-1979 box:folder 1:12 Lick Observatory 40inch Nickel Telescope 1978-1980 box:folder 1:13 Lick Observatory 60inch "DIME" Telescope 1980-1981 box:folder 1:14 Lick Observatory 60inch Telescope 1975-1977 box:folder 1:15 Keck Telescope - Advisory committee 1988 box:folder 1:16 Echelle Spectrograph 1981 box:folder 1:17 Observing Requests 1990-1991 box:folder 1:18 Delpliasus Fund 1994 box:folder 1:19 Lick Observatory Endowment Funds 1961-1984 box:folder 1:20-2:2 Housing, Mt. Hamilton 1979-1981 box:folder 2:3-8 Lick Observatory Personnel 1975-1998 box:folder 2:3 General 1975-1998 box:folder 2:4 Bruzzese, Marjorie 1976 box:folder 2:5 Melsheimer, Frank 1974-1975 box:folder 2:6 Robinson, Sue 1987-1989 box:folder 2:7 Schultz, Jack 1991-1996 box:folder 2:8 Shand, Pat, McLellan, Gerri 1982-1986 Donald E. Osterbrock Papers UA.40 3 Accrual 1 circa 1954-2007 UCSC and Lick Observatory 1973-2006 box:folder 2:9-10 Review Committee 1973-1981 box:folder 2:11 Calmes, Joseph 1973-1984 box:folder 2:12-2:16 Kraft, Robert - Director's Office 1971-1991 box:folder 2:17 Director's notices 1973-1977 box:folder 2:18 Miller, Joseph - Director's Office 1981-2000 box:folder 3:1-3 Faculty meetings 1976-1981 box:folder 3:4 Colloquia schedules 1979-1984 box:folder 3:5 Budget requests 1976-1978 box:folder 3:6-9 Board of Studies 1973-1996 box:folder 3:10 Astronomy 205 1984 box:folder 3:11-12 Annual Reports 1979-1991 box:folder 3:13 Santa Cruz institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) 1980-1986 box:folder 4:1 Administrative Advisory Committee 1973-1974 box:folder 4:2 Newsletter 1975-1978 box:folder 4:3 Newsletter, Focus 1983-1986 box:folder 4:4 Lick Observatory Proposal Preparation Guide 1983 UCSC Chancellor's Committees 1969-1992 box:folder 4:5 McHenry, Dean E. 1969-1989 box:folder 4:6 Christensen, Mark N. 1975-1976 box:folder 4:7 Sinsheimer, Robert L. 1978-1994 box:folder 4:8 Stevens, Robert 1987-1990 box:folder 4:9 Pister, Karl S. 1991-1992 box:folder 4:10 UCSC Academic Senate 1985-1992 box:folder 4:11 Computer Engineering Committee search 1983-1984 box:folder 4:12 Crown College 1983-2000 box:folder 4:13 Crown College - Provost Search Committee 1982-1989 box:folder 4:14 UCSC Emeriti Group 1998 box:folder 4:15 Faculty Club - University Club proposal 1982 box:folder 4:16 Graduate Council 1987-1988 box:folder 4:17 Graduate Deans - Pullman, Gill 1988-1994 box:folder 4:18 UCSC National Sciences Division 1979-1982 box:folder 4:19 Phi Beta Kappa 1986-1990 box:folder 4:20 UCSC Registar 1989-1990 box:folder 4:21 Vice Chancellor - Moldave, Gruhn 1985-1988 UCSC Office of the President 1972-1990 box:folder 5:1 Office of the President - Charles J. Hitch 1972-1975 box:folder 5:2 Saxon, David S. 1976-1982 box:folder 5:3 Berkeley meeting 1978 box:folder 5:4 Swain, Donald 1976-1980 box:folder 5:5 Gardener, David P. 1984-1990 box:folder 66:23 Academic Senate 1991-1999 box:folder 67:3 Chancellor Greenwood 1997-2003 box:folder 67:4 Chancellor Denton 2004-2006 box:folder 67:5 Chancellor Blumenthal 2006 box:folder 67:6 Administration 1994-2006 box:folder 67:7 CONICYT, Santiago, Chile 1999 box:folder 67:8 Henri Chretian proposal 1996 box:folder 67:9 Computing and computers 1992-2001 box:folder 67:10 Emerti Association 1993-2006 box:folder 67:11 Awards, recognitions, etc 1997-2005 box:folder 67:12 Joe Calmes 1986-1994 box:folder 67:13 Sandra Faber 1979-2004 box:folder 67:14-15 Faculty Research Lectures Committtee 1996-2000 Donald E. Osterbrock Papers UA.40 4 Accrual 1 circa 1954-2007 UCSC Office of the President 1972-1990 box:folder 67:16 Faulkner, John [Professor Emeriti] 1995-2006 box:folder 67:17 Phi Beta Kappa Epsilon Chapter 1986-1993 box:folder 67:18 Graduate Students 1994-2004 box:folder 67:19 Harlan, Gene 1999-2002 box:folder 68:2 Irion, Robert [UCSC Faculty] 1994-1997 box:folder 68:3 Jones, Burt 1997-2003 box:folder 68:4 Klemola, Arnold R.