Richard van der Riet Woolley
| Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
24 April 1906 Weymouth, Dorset, England |
| Died | 24 December 1986 (aged 80) Somerset West, South Africa |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Alma mater |
University of Cape Town University of Cambridge |
| Known for | Astronomer Royal |
| Notable awards | Fellow of the Royal Society |
Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley OBE FRS (24 April 1906 – 24 December 1986) was an English astronomer who became Astronomer Royal. His mother's maiden name was Van der Riet.
Woolley was born in Weymouth, Dorset and attended Allhallows College, then in Honiton, for about 18 months, but then moved with his parents to South Africa upon their retirement. There he attended and received his degree from the University of Cape Town. Woolley returned to the United Kingdom and studied at University of Cambridge. After two years at Mount Wilson Observatory he again returned to the United Kingdom in 1931.
From 1937 to 1939 he was Senior Assistant Observer and John Couch Adams Astronomer at the Cambridge Observatory.
Woolley specialized in solar astronomy and in 1939 he was appointed director of the Commonwealth Solar Observatory in Canberra, Australia. He later returned to the United Kingdom to take up his appointment as Astronomer Royal from 1956 to 1971.
Woolley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1953 and won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1971. From 1972 to 1976 he was director of the new South African Astronomical Observatory. He retired in the late 1970s and spent most of his retirement in South Africa.
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