Robert Paul Kraft (June 16, 1927 – May 26, 2015) was an American astronomer.[1] He performed pioneering work on Cepheid variables, stellar rotation, novae, and the chemical evolution of the Milky Way. His name is also associated with the Kraft break: the abrupt change in the average rotation rate of main sequence stars around spectral type F8.[2]
Robert Kraft | |
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Born | Seattle, Washington, U.S. | June 16, 1927
Died | May 26, 2015 | (aged 87)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Washington, University of California at Berkeley |
Known for | Kraft break |
Scientific career | |
Doctoral advisor | George Herbig |
Kraft served as director of the Lick Observatory (1981–1991), president of the American Astronomical Society (1974–1976), and president of the International Astronomical Union (1997–2000).[3]
He received his B.S. at the University of Washington in 1947, M.S. in mathematics at the University of Washington in 1949, and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.[4] He died in 2015.[5]
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