A. David Thackeray

Andrew David Thackeray (19 June 1910 – 21 February 1978),^[1][2] was an astronomer trained at Cambridge University.

He went to school at Eton College and studied mathematics at King's College, Cambridge.^[2] He received a PhD on theoretical stellar spectroscopy in 1937 from the Solar Physics Laboratory in Cambridge. During his studies he worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California from 1934 to 1936.^[3] He was Assistant Director of the Solar Physics Observatory at Cambridge Observatory from 1937 to 1948.^[4] He was then director of the Radcliffe Observatory in Pretoria from 1951 to his retirement in 1974.^[3] He became an honorary professor of the University of Cape Town and, a few days before his death, an associate of the Royal Astronomical Society.^[3]

He specialized in stellar spectroscopy. At a conference of the International Astronomical Union in Rome in 1952, he presented results of studies of variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds, indicating that the perceived age and size of the universe had to be doubled. He was the discoverer of Thackeray's Globules in 1950.^[5]

Personal life

He was born on 19 June 1910 in Chelsea, London.^[3] His father was the classical scholar H St. J Thackeray.^[2] He died in an accident on 21 February 1978.^[1]

Bibliography

• Thackeray, A.D. Astronomical spectroscopy. Eyre & Spottiswood, London, 1961, 256 pp.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "A.D. Thackeray". South African journal of science (South African Association for the Advancement of Science) 73-4. 1978. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Obituaries". The Quarterly journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (Royal Astronomical Society) 20. 1979. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Glass, I.S. (2009). "Andrew David Thackeray at the Radcliffe Observatory". Transactions of Royal Society of South Africa (Taylor & Francis) 64 (1): 76–8. doi:10.1080/00359190909519240. http://www.saao.ac.za/~isg/thack.pdf. 
4. ^ Stratton, F.J.M. "The History of the Cambridge Observatories" Annals of the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge Vol. I (1949)
5. ^ Thackeray, A. D. (1950). "Some southern stars involved in nebulosity". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 110: 524. Bibcode 1950MNRAS.110..524T. 

Links

• A. David Thackeray

Persondata
Name	Thackeray, A. David
Alternative names	Andrew David Thackeray
Short description
Date of birth	19 June 1910
Place of birth	Chelsea, London
Date of death	21 February 1978
Place of death