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Erik Holmberg (astronomer)

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Nationality
  
Swedish

Fields
  
Astronomy, Cosmology

Alma mater
  
Role
  
Astronomer

Name
  
Erik Holmberg


Born
  
13 November 1908Sweden (
1908-11-13
)

Known for
  
Effects of interacting galaxies

Died
  
February 1, 2000, Gothenburg, Sweden

Erik Holmberg (13 November 1908 – 1 February 2000) was a Swedish astronomer and cosmologist. He is most famous for his work in the effects of interacting galaxies. This research showed that galaxies that came near each other would likely combine to form a larger galaxy.

Contents

Personal life

In 1908, Holmberg was born to Malcolm and Anna Holmberg in Skillingaryd, Sweden.

In 1947 he married Martha Asdahl. They had one daughter named Osa, who was born in 1953.

He died on 1 February 2000 in Gothenburg, at the age of 91.

Scientific work

In 1941, Holmberg published the works of an experiment to study the effects of interacting galaxies. In order to simulate the effect, he constructed an array of 37 lightbulbs. Using photocells, he measured the simulated force of gravity. Over time, the galaxies moved closer toward each other. He also concluding in a later experiment that elliptical galaxies are generally older than spiral galaxies, among other discoveries.

References

Erik Holmberg (astronomer) Wikipedia


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