Helmut A. Abt
Tucson Nighttime Scientific Staff
Areas of Interest
Double Stars, Stellar Rotation, Stellar Characteristics, Publication
Practices in Astronomy
Recent Research Results
Abt and his collaborators have recently studied how double stars are
formed. Others have found that the classical mechanism (subdivision of
a star that is spinning too rapidly) does not form double stars, but
rather stars with disks. Abt's work shows that three-body interactions
within star clusters gives double stars with the characteristics seen
in young and old clusters and seems to be the primary mechanism.
Future Research Plans
Abt is concerned about the maximum ages of Trapezium systems. Those
contain three or more stars with roughly equal separations between the
stars. They are dynamically unstable and will evolve into hierarchical
systems, e.g., a close pair and a distant third star or pair. But how
long does that take? A study with C. J. Corbally of 268 possible
systems should indicate the maximum age of Trapezium systems and a
preliminary value is 1010 years.
Service
The 9% growth per year of The Astrophysical Journal has gradually
absorbed most of Editor-in-Chief Abt's time. The Journal now publishes
25,000 pages of original research each year, and it is planned to have
it available on-line in 1997. But Abt has reorganized the Journal
structure so that the overseeing of the reviewing is now done mostly
(90%) by 12 Scientific Editors elsewhere in the country. In addition
Abt has been of service to the IAU (Nominating Committee, President
Commission 26), Van Biesbroeck Award for unselfish service to astronomy
(President), AAS Investment Advisory Committee (member), Y. C. Cheng
Award for outstanding research by an astronomer in China (founder),
etc.
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Posted: 06Dec1996