UH astronomer given society’s highest honor

Ann Merchant Boesgaard, astronomy professor emerita at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, has received the American Astronomical Society’s highest honor.

The 2019 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, given annually for lifetime achievement, recognizes Boesgaard’s work in measuring the fractions of specific atoms in nearby stars in an effort to uncover their origin and the chemical evolution of the galaxy. The award was announced Jan. 8 at the society’s semiannual meeting in Seattle.

The retired astronomer’s first paper was published in The Astrophysical Journal in 1965. She has written more than 250 publications since and received numerous honors over the course of her career. Additionally, a main-belt asteroid, 7084 Boesgaard, was named in her honor in 1998.

Boesgaard said she was thrilled to have her work recognized. She noted spending “many long nights at telescopes, in the dark, freezing cold,” including UH’s 2.2- meter telescope, the Canada- France-Hawaii Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea.

The award includes a monetary prize, an invitation to deliver a lecture at a future American Astronomical Society meeting and publication of the lecture in a society journal. Boesgaard will deliver her prize lecture at the society’s next winter meeting in January 2020 in Honolulu.

“Ann Boesgaard has devoted her career to the study of the light elements — lithium, beryllium and boron — in the atmospheres of stars, and to what that can tell us not only about the structure and evolution of stars but also about the formative stages of the entire universe. We are delighted that she is receiving this well-deserved recognition for her lifetime achievements,” Institute for Astronomy interim director Robert McLaren said in the release.

Boesgaard was recruited to the Institute for Astronomy by its first director, John Jefferies, in 1967, and became one of the first professors in the newly formed department. Although officially retired, she remains active in research and continues to advise graduate students.