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ERNST JULIUS ÖPIK - Astronomer

 

                                   

Ernst Julius Öpik was one of the most outstanding astrophysicists of his generation. He made many contributions to our knowledge of the minor bodies of the solar system, and founded the meteor research group at Harvard.

Born: Port Kunda, Estonia, 23 October 1893
Died: Bangor, Co Down, N.Ireland, 10 September 1985

Children: Uno, Helgi, Tiiu, Elina, Inna, Maija

Addresses: 30 College Hill, Armagh; 99 Clifton Road, Bangor, Co Down

 

Öpik using the 10" Grubb telescope at Armagh

       His statistical studies of Earth-crossing comets and asteroids are fundamental for our understanding of the motions of these objects and how they impact Earth. His predictions concerning the cratering on Mars were confirmed 15 years later by planetary probes. In recognition of his work, Minor Planet Öpik was named after him.
Öpik was prolific in his output, and often controversial in his opinions. Many of his later publications appeared in the Irish Astronomical Journal, which he edited from 1950 till 1981.
Ernst Julius Öpik was born in Kunda on 23 October 1893. He was educated at Tallinn High School and Moscow Imperial University. After four years at the Moscow Observatory, he became Director of the Astronomy Department in Tashkent. From 1921-1944, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Tartu, and from 1930-1934, a visiting scientist at Harvard University. As a former volunteer to the White Russian army, he vehemently opposed the Bolshevik Revolution and, when the Soviet occupation of Estonia was imminent, he moved, first to Hamburg, and finally, in 1948, to Armagh Observatory. There he remained until 1981.


Öpik in the library at Armagh Observatory