Person
Greenhill, John Gilbert (1933 - 2014)
- Born
- 18 April 1933
- Died
- 28 September 2014
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia - Occupation
- Astronomer
Summary
John Greenhill was a pioneer of x-ray astronomy in Australia and a determined hunter of planets via gravitational microlensing. He was heavily involved with University of Tasmania X-ray astronomy rocket program, a joint study with the University of Adelaide, the rocket being launched from Woomera. In the 1970s-1980s Greenhill led the balloon-borne X-ray program, designing and building a 1-m X-ray telescope which was successfully flown from Mildura, Alice Springs, and Brazil. He took over the operation of the University's optical telescope facility at Mt Canobus. The observatory joined the international PLANET consortium in searching for exoplanets using gravitational microlensing techniques. In retirement he was involved in planning a new observatory when it became clear Mt Canobus was compromised by encroaching city lights. Greenhill Observatory at Bisdee north of Hobart opened in February 2013.
Skip to
Details
Chronology
- 1960
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Tasmania
- 1966
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Tasmania
- 2012
- Award - Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Voluntary Position Holder, University of Tasmania
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Duldig, Marc, 'John Gilbert Greenhill 18 April 1933 - 28 September 2014', Australian Physics, 52 (1) (2015), 33, https://aip.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Australian%20Physics/Aust%20Phys%2052-1.pdf. Details
Resources
- 'Greenhill, John Gilbert (19330418-20140928)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1772733. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 16 February 2017