| Ernst J. Öpik AKA Ernst Julius Öpik Born: 23-Oct-1893
Birthplace: Port-Kunda, Estonia, Russia
Died: 10-Sep-1985
Location of death: Bangor, Down, Northern Ireland
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Cremated, ashes buried in Ulster, Northern Ireland
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Astronomer Nationality: Estonia
Executive summary: Andromeda Nebula Military service: White Russian Army Astronomer Ernst J. Öpik was the first scientist to calculate the density of a white dwarf, and the first to accurately determine Andromeda Nebula's distance from the Earth. He proposed that a cloud of comets circle the Solar System, and developed a theory to explain how dwarf stars evolve into giants. He also discovered the Yarkovsky effect, when he read an otherwise ignored paper written by amateur scientist Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky, explaining a tiny but important physical force acting on asteroids.
For several years Öpik kept two households concurrently, living with his wife and children while working nights at the observatory with a woman who was his assistant, lover, and the mother of three more of his children. His grandson through his mistress, Lembit Opik, is a Member of British Parliament. Father: Karl Heinrich Öpik (Russian Navy)
Sister: Anna Öpik (philologist)
Brother: Armin Alexander Öpik (palaeontologist, b. 1898, d. 1983)
Wife: Vera Oreshkina Öpik
Daughter: Elina
Daughter: Inna
Daughter: Maija
Mistress: Alide Piiri (research assistant, three children)
Daughter: Helgi
Daughter: Tiiu
Son: Uno
High School: Tallinn High School, Tallinn, Estonia (1911)
Scholar: Moscow Observatory, Moscow Imperial University (1912-16)
University: PhD Astronomy, Moscow Imperial University (1916)
Teacher: Tartu University (1921-44)
Scholar: Harvard College Observatory, Harvard University (1930-34)
Scholar: Armagh Observatory (1948-81)
Bruce Medal 1976
Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal 1975 (with Jesse L. Greenstein)
Royal Society
Royal Astronomical Society
Asteroid Namesake 2099 Öpik
Estonian Ancestry
Author of books:
Physics of Meteor Flight in the Atmosphere (1958)
Interplanetary Encounters: Close-Range Gravitational Interactions (1976)
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