Donald Lynden-Bell | |
|---|---|
 Lynden-Bell in 2008 | |
| Born | 5 April 1935 |
| Died | 6 February 2018 (aged 82)[2] Cambridge, United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Awards | Karl Schwarzschild Medal (1983) Eddington Medal (1984) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Thesis | Stellar and galactic dynamics (1961) |
| Doctoral advisor | Leon Mestel |
| Doctoral students | Ofer Lahav Somak Raychaudhury Simon White |
Donald Lynden-Bell CBE FRS[3] (5 April 1935 – 6 February 2018) was a British theoretical astrophysicist. He was the first to determine that galaxies contain supermassive black holes at their centres, and that such black holes power quasars.[4] Lynden-Bell was President of the Royal Astronomical Society (1985–1987) and received numerous awards for his work, including the inaugural Kavli Prize for Astrophysics. He worked at the University of Cambridge for his entire career, where he was the first director of its Institute of Astronomy.
- ^ "The Astronomers". Star Men. Inigo Athenaeum Enterprise Inc. 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ^ "Prof. Donald Lynden-Bell". Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- ^ Evans, Neil Wyn (2020). "Donald Lynden-Bell. 5 April 1935— 6 February 2018". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 69: 333–363. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2020.0008.
- ^ Davies, Roger (28 February 2018). "Donald Lynden-Bell (1935–2018)". Obituary. Nature. 555 (7695): 166. Bibcode:2018Natur.555..166D. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-02579-w. PMID 29517024.