Ken Freeman (astronomer)
| Ken Freeman | |
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Ken Freeman in 2008
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| Born | Kenneth Charles Freeman 27 August 1940 Perth, Australia |
| Residence | Canberra, Australia |
| Fields | Astronomy and astrophysics |
| Institutions | Australian National University |
| Alma mater |
University of Western Australia University of Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor |
Leon Mestel Donald Lynden-Bell |
| Known for |
Freeman Law, and co-authoring the best-selling book, 'Shrouds of the Night'. |
| Notable awards |
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Website rsaa |
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Kenneth Charles (Ken) Freeman, FAA, FRS (born 27 August 1940) is an Australian astronomer and astrophysicist who is currently Duffield Professor of Astronomy in the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Mount Stromlo Observatory of the Australian National University in Canberra. He was born in Perth, Australia in 1940, studied mathematics and physics at the University of Western Australia, and graduated with first class honours in applied mathematics in 1962. He then went to Cambridge University for postgraduate work in theoretical astrophysics with Leon Mestel and Donald Lynden-Bell, and completed his doctorate in 1965. Following a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Texas with Gérard de Vaucouleurs, and a research fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he returned to Australia in 1967 as a Queen Elizabeth Fellow at Mount Stromlo. Apart from a year in the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen in 1976 and some occasional absences overseas, he has been at Mount Stromlo ever since.
His research interests are in the formation and dynamics of galaxies and globular clusters, and he is particularly interested in the problem of dark matter in galaxies: he was one of the first to point out that spiral galaxies contain a large fraction of dark matter. He regularly visits the Space Telescope Science Institute as Distinguished Visiting Scientist.
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