Franco Pacini

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Franco Pacini
Born10 May 1939
Florence, Italy
Died25 January 2012(2012-01-25) (aged 72)
Florence, Italy
CitizenshipItalian
Known forpulsar, neutron stars
AwardsPrize of the Italian Government for Science (1997)
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Florence
Arcetri Observatory

Franco Pacini (10 May 1939 – 25 January 2012)

astrophysicist and professor at the University of Florence. He carried out research, mostly in High Energy Astrophysics, in Italy, France, United States and at the European Southern Observatory
.

Biography

Pacini was born in Florence on 10 May 1939, however he moved early on to Urbino. His parents were Gualtiero Pacini, a teacher from Urbino and Elsa Roesch, born in Baden, Switzerland. Pacini was married in 1966 to Rosemary Winterer, a teacher, born in St. Louis, Missouri. They had three children: Giulia, Tommaso and Giorgio.[2]

Pacini graduated from a local high school, Raffaello, in

post-doctoral fellow.[3]

Pacini continued his research on neutron stars at the Institute d'Astrophysique in Paris. From 1967 to 1973, he was research associate and visiting professor at

Crab nebula would be found a pulsar, which would explain the emission of electromagnetic radiation.[2][6]

Crab Nebula

The discovery of the strong infrared emission from some

starburst galaxies, Pacini, together with Martin Harwit, suggested that these sources are related to an evolutionary stage of a galaxy during which massive stars are being formed, a scenario which is now generally accepted.[7]

In 1975 Pacini joined the newly created scientific group of the

ESO.[8] On returning to Italy in 1978, he became Director of the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory in Florence and a professor at the University of Florence. He held this post until 2001. During his tenure the Observatory greatly expanded its scientific activity in different areas, in a broad context of international collaborations. In particular, during this period the Arcetri Observatory became partner in the construction of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT).[2]

In 1982 Pacini was one of the 69 signatories signing a petition circulated by Carl Sagan: Extraterrestrial Intelligence: An International Petition.[9]

Pacini had an ability to use humorous images when talking about science, as can be read in article by Virginia Trimble and Markus Aschwanden: What is in the jets? Franco Pacini is supposed to have said that relativistic tomatoes would do.[10]

He was member of a large number of international boards and committees. He was President of the

Galileo's first telescopic observations.[11]

Asteroid 25601

Francopacini
is named after him. In 1997 he received the Prize of the Italian Government for Science.

Over the years he carried out a wide range of activities aimed at communicating science to the general public, including children and adults, with frequent public lectures, popular articles in newspapers, books and appearances on television. Pacini was involved in starting Children's Day at Arcetri Observatory.[12] He also wrote five children's books.

Children's books

Pacini wrote five children’s books with Lara Albanese:[13]

  • Verso le galassie lontane
  • Il nostro amico E.T.
  • In giro fra le stelle
  • Visitiamo i pianeti
  • Viaggio nell'universo: Verso le lontane galassie-In giro fra le stelle-Visitiamo i pianeti-Il nostro amico E.T.

Books

  • High Energy Phenomena Around Collapsed Stars, Editor: Franco Pacini[14]

Articles

1987A

Activities

  • Postdoc-fellow, 1965-1966;
    Institut d'astrophysique de Paris
    , Paris, France
  • Researcher / visiting professor, 1966-1968; 1969-1975; Cornell University, Ithaca (New York), United States of America
  • Researcher / staff member, 1968-1975; Institute of Space Astrophysics (CNR), Frascati (Rome), Italy
Arcetri, telescopio
  • Head of scientific division, 1975-1978; European southern observatory, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Ordinary professor, 1978-2009; University of Florence, Italy
  • Director, 1978-2001; Arcetri Observatory (Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri), Arcetri, Florence, Italy
  • Corresponding member of the physical, mathematical and natural sciences class, Tuscany academy of sciences and letters La Colombaria, 1983; Florence, Italy
  • Corresponding member in the class of physical and mathematical sciences, Accademia de 'Lincei, 1985-2012; Rome, Italy
  • Scientific committee member, 1989 ; Italian Space Agency, Rome, Italy
  • President, 2001-2003; International Astronomical Union
  • Member governing council, 2000-2004; National institute of astrophysics, Rome, Italy

Honours and awards

Past affiliations within the International Astronomical Union [18]

  • Past President of commission 48 high-energy astrophysics (1979-1982)
  • Past President of executive committee (2000-2003)
  • Past President elect of executive committee (1997-2000)
  • Past Vice-president of commission 48 high-energy astrophysics (1976-1979)
  • Past Vice-president of executive committee (1991-1997)
  • Past Chair of special nominating committee (2000-2003)
  • Past Organizing committee member of commission 48 high-energy astrophysics (1970-1994)
  • Past Organizing committee member of Commission 51 bio-astronomy (1982-1991)
  • Past Advisor of executive committee (2003-2006)
  • Past Member of division III planetary systems sciences
  • Past Member of division XI space & high energy astrophysics
  • Past Member of commission 44 space & high energy astrophysics
  • Past Member of commission 48 high-energy astrophysics
  • Past Member of commission 51 bio-astronomy
  • Past Member of special nominating committee (1985-1988), (2003-2006)

References

  1. ^ "Franco Pacini, 1939–2012". ESO. 2012-01-26. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bignami, Giovanni (2014). "Biographical Dictionary of Italians - Volume 80". Treccani. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  3. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.148.1269
    .
  4. S2CID 4282721
    .
  5. S2CID 4277613
    . Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  6. ^ Pacini, Franco (1968-07-13). "Rotating Neutron Stars". Nature, volume 219, pages 145–146. Retrieved 2002-01-21.
  7. doi:10.1086/181913
    .
  8. ^ "Franco Pacini" (PDF). European Astronomical Society Newsletter. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  9. S2CID 45215757
    .
  10. doi:10.1086/322844
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-4419-8368-8
    .
  12. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2019-01-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Pacini, Franco; Albanese, Lara. "Verso le galassie lontane". Jaca Book. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  14. ISBN 9789400938236
    . Retrieved 2002-01-21.
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