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Stewart Lane Sharpless (1926 - 2013)

Submitted by Kevin Jardine on 17 September, 2013 - 09:31

Stewart Sharpless, the creator of the Sharpless nebula catalog, died on January 19, 2013 at the age of 86. A bit sadly, I have seen no obituaries in scientific publications yet for Sharpless. I found out about his death recently by accident while searching for information on Sharpless and encountered this guestbook page with the details of his death.

His page at the University of Rochester describing him as a "professor emeritus" has been removed, but I see that he is still listed as of today at the International Astronomical Union and is still described as alive on his English Wikipedia page (but the German version correctly reports his death).

I find it sad when scientists die or retire unacknowledged. I notice that Veta Avedisova has been removed from the staff listing at the Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences. I hope in her case that she has a new job or is perhaps beginning a long and happy retirement!