Dilhan Eryurt

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Dilhan Eryurt (born November 29, 1926 in Izmir , † September 13, 2012 in Ankara ) was a Turkish astrophysicist . Eryurt was the first Turkish woman scientist to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She founded the Department of Astrophysics at the Technical University of the Middle East (ODTÜ, mostly English METU) in Ankara and was dean of the Faculty of Science and Literature at METU.

Life

Eryurt was born in Izmir in 1926 as the daughter of the politician Abidin Ege , who represented Denizli Province as a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1944 and was also Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture. The father was supposed to found an agricultural college in the Bornova district .

In the following years the family moved first to Istanbul and later to Ankara. There Eryurt first attended elementary school and later a secondary school for girls. There she developed a special interest in mathematics and, after graduating from school, began studying at the faculty for mathematics and astronomy at Istanbul Üniversitesi , specializing in astronomy during the course of her studies.

After successfully completing her studies in 1946, she worked for two years without pay as a research assistant to Tevfik Oktay Kabakçıoğlu , who was to set up a department for astronomy at Ankara University . Eryurt then took up graduate studies at the University of Michigan , received his doctorate in 1953 from the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Ankara and then worked there as an associate professor . During this time she often worked with Egbert Adriaan Kreiken , who was researching and teaching in Turkey at the time.

In 1959 Eryurt went to Canada on a two-year scholarship to the International Atomic Energy Agency . Here she worked for Alastair Cameron . She then did research on the creation of star models at the Goethe Link Observatory at Indiana University in the United States with a grant from Soroptimist International . She worked there with Marshal H. Wrubel . She moved to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and then worked with Cameron on models for the evolution of the sun . At the time, she was the only woman doing research at this institution. She was particularly interested in stars made entirely of hydrogen and stars of lesser mass.

Dilhan Eryurt's work at the Goddard Institute was groundbreaking and revealed some new insights into the sun. The previously held view that the sun's brightness and intensity had increased in the first four billion years since its formation was corrected after Eryurt discovered that the sun had been brighter and warmer in the past. This research was also important for future space flights. She received the Apollo Achievement Award in 1969 for her successful work on the Apollo 11's first moon landing . After two years at the Goddard Institute, Eryurt worked there as head of a research group. The institute sent her to the University of California , where she did research on the formation and evolution of stars.

In 1968 she returned to Turkey and organized the first National Astronomy Congress with the support of the Turkish Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (TÜBITAK). At the same time, she lectured as a visiting professor at her alma mater .

Between 1969 and 1973 she worked again for NASA. In 1973 she returned to her home country, became a full professor and took over the founding of a department for astrophysics at the Institute of Physics at the Technical University of the Middle East. In 1977 she received the TÜBITAK Science Award . In 1988 she headed the physics department for six months and then became dean of the faculty for science and literature. She retired in 1993.

Eryurt died in 2012 of complications from a heart attack.

family

Eryurt was married to the lawyer and politician Sabahattin Eryurt .

Honors

Since 2017, the Technical University of the Middle East in Ankara has been holding the Dilhan Eryurt Astronomy Day every year, which is intended to commemorate the astronomer and promote the exchange between students and scientists in the field of astronomy.

On July 20, 2020, she honored Google with her own signature (“Google Doodle”) as the first Turkish scientist at NASA.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kayahan Demir: Bilim Evrenimizin Güneşi: Dilhan Eryurt . In: Türk Astronomi Derneği Elektronik Bülteni , No. 57, September 2014, pp. 6–11 (PDF)
  2. ↑ a b c d e Dilhan Eryurt , Biyografya, accessed April 9, 2018
  3. ↑ İrfan Unutmaz, Güneşin Evriminde Bir Tür Kadını: Prof. Dr. Dilhan Eryurt , Focus , accessed April 9, 2018
  4. ↑ Gül Kireklo: NASA'daki İlk Türk Bilim Kadını Sessizce Veda Etti , Sabah, November 19, 2012
  5. ↑ Genç Gökbilimciler İçin Dilhan Eryurt Gökbilim Günü , TÜBITAK, accessed on April 9, 2018
  6. ↑ Google Doodle of July 20, 2020 , accessed on July 20, 2020
  7. ↑ Dilhan Eryurt was the first Turkish scientist at NASA , Augsburger Allgemeine, July 20, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Eryurt, Dilhan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Turkish astrophysicist and professor at the Technical University of the Middle East in Ankara
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Izmir
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 2012
Place of death Ankara