Obituaries Tor Hagfors 1930–2007

sional career began at the Norwegian Defence at, and in some cases took charge of, the instal- Research Establishment at Kjeller and continued lations at Millstone Hill (Massachusetts), Jica- at several other institutions, notably the MIT marca (Peru) and Arecibo (Puerto Rico). But he Lincoln Laboratory and . He will especially be remembered for taking on, in made great contributions to the theory of inter- 1976, the great task of directing the construction action of electromagnetic waves with solar sur- and operation of the six-nation European Inco- faces and ionized plasmas, becoming one of the herent Scatter , EISCAT, located at Tromsø early experts in the theory of incoherent scatter (), Kiruna (Sweden) and Sodankylä (Fin- (Thomson scatter) as applied to the , land). EISCAT began operating in 1981 and has which gives information on the concentrations, made major contributions to the science of the velocities and temperature of ions and electrons. high-latitude upper atmosphere. Later expanded

Although the use of this technique had been to four sites, EISCAT looks forward to many Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/48/3/3.37/200895 by guest on 05 October 2021 envisaged by the French scientist Fabry in 1926, more years of valuable science – a tribute to Tor’s its feasibility was not demonstrated until 1957 past leadership and planning. when Keith Bowles set up a small system in Illi- After six years at EISCAT, Tor returned to Cor- nois and went on to build the much larger system nell University and in 1992 became a director Associate of the RAS, pioneer in at Jicamarca, situated in the Andean foothills of the Max-Planck-Institute of Aeronomy near ionospheric incoherent scatter near Lima and close to the magnetic equator. Göttingen. He gained several awards, including With his practical and management skills, the van der Pol medal of the International Union theory and observation, practical Tor was in the right place at the right time to of Science (URSI), the Humboldt Medal manager and leader, not least of exploit the possibilities of incoherent scatter of the European Geosciences Union and the Sir EISCAT. radar, and was thus a pioneering member of the Granville Beynon medal of EISCAT. His co- “Acre-Megawatt Club”, referring to the acres authored book, Radar Astronomy, published in or Hagfors, a great pioneer in the tech- of antennas and megawatts of power needed to 1968, remains a respected work of reference, and nique of incoherent scattering of radio measure the weak incoherently scattered echoes he has numerous scientific papers to his credit. Twaves applied to the ionosphere, was from the ionosphere (the task has been likened He died suddenly at Arecibo, leaving his wife, born in and took his degrees at the uni- to detecting and analysing the echo from a small children and very many friends and colleagues. versities of Trondheim and Oslo. His profes- coin 300 km away). At different times he worked Henry Rishbeth Virpi Niemela 1936–2006

were born in Argentina, where they still live. leagues, with her deep scientific insight, always Her involvement in massive-star astrophysics accompanied by her enthusiasm and passionate started early in her career, when her mentor was attitude towards observational astrophysics, to Prof. Jorge Sahade (now 92), with whom she which countless observing runs at CASLEO, subsequently remained a close collaborator. It is CTIO and La Silla testify. hard to make a list of Virpi’s many contributions After gaining her PhD in 1974, she took up a throughout her fruitful scientific career. Her work position at the University of La Plata and became had a strong influence in the field of massive stars a fellow of CONICET. A few years later, dur- and close-binary research. She was especially ing the military rule of Argentina (1976–1983), interested in systems harbouring Wolf–Rayet she was fired from both positions, a fate shared (WR) components, such as WR+O systems, their by other members of our scientific community. evolution, their interaction with the interstellar However, Virpi never abandoned her research medium, and the nature of the most massive WR projects and continued to make significant stars. She undoubtedly pioneered research on WR contributions to the field of WR and massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds, massive stars in stars (WR stars in the Carina Nebula, O-type nearby stellar associations, and interstellar bub- binaries, etc) until she obtained a new position Associate of the RAS, persistent bles around massive stars. In particular, she was at the Comisión de Investigaciones Cientifícas and productive Wolf–Rayet puzzled by the way in which non-detected multi- de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CICBA) which plicity can mislead our picture of the most mas- she kept until the end of her life. After working and massive-star astronomer, sive stars, and made every effort to clarify this for many years at the Instituto de Astronomía observer and leader in issue. A great deal of our present understanding y Física del Espacio (IAFE, Buenos Aires) as a Argentinean astronomy. of those systems is due to her patient observa- CICBA member, she moved her office back to La tions, gathered along the years, and the thorough Plata, becoming also a professor at the Facultad orn in Helsinki, Finland, on 26 December analysis she made of them. de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, which in 1936, Virpi moved to Argentina with her Equally important was her role in the develop- 2006 honoured her as Emeritus Professor. Bfamily at the age of 17, where she lived ment of astronomy in Argentina. She strongly In September 2005, a few months after Virpi most of her life and became a citizen. Her two sons influenced the careers of many students and col- had fought a tough battle against cancer,

A&G • June 2007 • Vol. 47 3.37 Obituaries

Guillermo Bosch realized that Virpi’s 70th birth- their friendship, love and admiration. She was a few days after the meeting ended. day was just about one year away. Virpi herself tremendously pleased about having “her own” Virpi is gone; but she leaves behind an enor- had organized three international scientific meet- conference and attended every scientific session, mous contribution to astronomy. And more ings at La Plata during the 1990s, so the quest a tremendous effort given her serious medical important, her enthusiasm, her way of enjoying for a perfect 70th birthday present for her was condition. every new discovery and interpretation of the extremely easy: a scientific meeting. Outstand- During the conference two special announce- data, her implacable criticism addressed even to ing colleagues from all around the world were ments were made: that Virpi was elected as an her own ideas, those will remain with all of us consulted; everybody wanted to attend and Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society; and who had the chance to meet her, learn from her, everybody confirmed their participation from that an asteroid (discovered at the Estación de and work alongside her. the start, so what was first thought of as a small Altura Carlos Ulrico Cesco, El Leoncito, San Juan) Nidia Morrell specialist gathering ended up as a big confer- has been named after her – 5289 Niemela – “so ence. The La Plata Observatory – first choice from now on you have your own asteroid, like Deaths of Fellows for the venue – could not fit all Virpi’s guests the Little Prince” read the lovely letter signed by and the meeting was moved, for the first time Carlos López on behalf of the discoverer’s team. Prof. Virpi Niemela Born 16 December 1936 ever in Argentina, away from an astronomical All at the meeting were very pleased of learning Associate 8 February 2007 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/48/3/3.37/200895 by guest on 05 October 2021 institution. Virpi summoned everybody to the that Virpi had been elected to an Associateship of Died 18 December 2006 first Argentinean Beach Conference. the RAS; an honour so far only conferred, among Malcolm Ruscoe-Pond Therefore, over 11–14 December 2006, the the Argentine astronomers, to Prof. Sahade, our Born 22 May 1929 international workshop on “Massive Stars: emeritus astronomer. None of us were aware Elected 13 February 2004 Died 29 December 2006 Fundamental Parameters and Circumstellar that the meeting was the very last time we would Patrick Victor Sudbury Interactions” was held in Carilo (Argentina) spend with Virpi, and that the long applause we Born 3 August 1941 in celebration of Virpi’s 70th birthday. On that gave her at the closing session, with tears in most Elected 12 October 1962 occasion friends, colleagues and former students eyes, was our goodbye to this extraordinary Died 22 February 2007 from all over the world gathered to show Virpi woman. Virpi passed away on 18 December, only

Additions to the RAS Library 2006 In the past year, more than 100 books on Uranium: Elemental Tracers of Early Cosmic F Caribbean Tsunamis: A 500-Year History astronomy, astrophysics and geophysics Evolution (IAU Symposium 228) CUP. Kluwer. have been added to the RAS Library. Here is Howell, Steve B Handbook of CCD Astronomy Pasachoff, Jay M and Percy, John R a selection of those titles. (2nd ed) CUP. Teaching and Learning Astronomy: Effective To search the entire RAS library collection Klahr, Hubert and Brandner, Wolfgang Strategies for Educators Worldwide CUP. online, go to http://ras.heritage4.com/. (eds) Planet Formation: Theory Observations Pecker, Jean-Claude and Narlikar, Jayant Fellows may borrow books by post on and Experiments CUP. V (eds) Current Issues in Cosmology CUP. application to the Librarian. For more Labeyrie, Antoine et al. An Introduction to Regev, O Chaos and Complexity in information see the Library pages on the Optical Stellar Interferometry CUP. Astrophysics CUP RAS website. Lazzaro, Daniela et al. (eds) Asteroids Roser, Siegfried (ed) Reviews in Modern Comets and Meteors (IAU Symposium 229) Astronomy 19 Wiley. Basalla, George Civilized Life in the Universe CUP. Silk, Joseph The Infinite Cosmos: Questions OUP. Lewin, Walter H G et al. (eds) Compact from the Frontiers of Cosmology OUP. CUP. Beech, Martin Meteors and Meteorites: Stellar X-Ray Sources Sonneborn, George et al. (eds) Astrophysics Origins and Observations Crowood. Lis, Dariusz C and Blake, Geoffrey A in the Far Ultraviolet: Five Years of Discovery Bellan, Paul M Fundamentals of Plasma Astrochemistry: Recent Successes and with FUSE (ASP Conference Proceedings Physics CUP. Current Challenges (IAU Symposium 231) Series 348) ASP. Birney, D Scott et al. Observational CUP. Starck, Jean-Luc and Murtagh, Fionn Astronomy (2nd ed) CUP. Livio, Mario and Casertano, Stefano Planets Astronomical Image and Data Analysis (2nd Bridgman, Howard A and Oliver, John E The to Cosmology CUP. ed) Springer. Global Climate System CUP. Longair, M S The Cosmic Century: A History of Sterken, Christiaan and Aerts, Conny Cesaroni Riccardo et al. (eds) Massive Star Astrophysics and Cosmology CUP. (eds) (ASP Birth: A Crossroads of Astrophysics (IAU Lyne, Andrew G and Graham-Smith, Astrophysics of Variable Stars Symposium 227) CUP. Francis Pulsar Astronomy (3rd ed) CUP. Conference Proceedings Series 349) ASP. Cole, George H A Wandering Stars: About McGuire, Bill Global Catastrophes: A Very Tennyson, Jonathan Astronomical Planets and Exoplanets Imperial College Short Introduction OUP. Spectroscopy Imperial College Press. Press. Mercado-Irizarry, Aurelio and Liu, Philip Valtonen, M J and Karttunen, Hannu The Eggleton, Peter Evolutionary Processes in (eds) Caribbean Tsunami Hazard World Three Body Problem CUP. Binary and Multiple Stars CUP. Scientific. van Putten, Maurice H P M Gravitational Erwin, Douglas H Extinction: How Life on Meurs, E J A and Fabbiano, G Populations Radiation Luminous Black Holes and Gamma- Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago of High Energy Sources in Galaxies (IAU ray Burst Supernovae CUP. Princeton University Press. Symposium 230) CUP. Verma, Surendra The Mystery of the Esposito, Larry Planetary Rings CUP. Miller, H R et al. (eds) Blazar Variability Tunguska Fireball Icon. Ferreira, Pedro The State of the Universe Workshop II: Entering the GLAST Era (ASP Whitelock, Patricia Ann et al. (eds) The Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Conference Proceedings Series 350) ASP. Scientific Requirements for Extremely Large Hill, Vanessa et al. (eds) From Lithium to O’Loughlin, Karen Fay and Lander, James Telescopes (IAU Symposium 232) CUP.

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