Robert Julius Trumpler

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Robert Julius Trumpler (until 1915 Robert Trümpler , born October 2, 1886 in Zurich , Switzerland , † September 10, 1956 in Berkeley , California ) was an American astronomer from Switzerland .

In 1915, Trumpler went to the United States to take a job at the Allegheny Observatory . He later went to the Lick Observatory . In 1921 he became a citizen of the United States. In 1932 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences . In 1938 he moved to the University of California, Berkeley as a professor , where he stayed until his retirement in 1951. Then he lived in Rio del Mar .

Trumpler is best known for his classification of open star clusters and for discovering the phenomenon of light absorption by interstellar dust . A Mars crater and a moon crater were named after him.

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific presents the Robert J. Trumpler Award annually .

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