Arcadio Poveda Ricalde, a prominent Mexican astronomer, died yesterday at the age of 91, announced El Colegio Nacional, of which he was a member.
The emeritus researcher at the Institute of Astronomy (IA) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) received numerous awards in Mexico and other countries for his studies, such as the evolution of stars, from birth to death. In 1975 he won the National Award for Arts and Sciences.
He developed the so-called Poveda Method (1958) to determine the masses of individual galaxies, spherical and ellipsoidal, which until then were unknown. He also made important contributions to the study of supernovae and double and multiple stars, the Science Advisory Council highlighted in his profile.
“Some of his articles on the dynamics of star systems and galaxies are classics of the astronomical literature,” the council stressed.
Poveda Ricalde was born in Mérida, Yucatán, on July 15, 1930. He studied theoretical physics and mathematics at the UNAM Faculty of Sciences and did his doctorate in astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley. He worked at the Tacubaya Observatory and later at the Leuschner of the University of California.
He was director of the IA Institute and founder of the National Astronomical Observatory in San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, and of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
He was a visiting researcher at various institutes and universities, including Astrophysics in Paris, Kitt Peak in Tucson, and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences in San Diego.
In addition to being a professor at the Faculty of Sciences at UNAM, he taught at the universities of Nebraska and New York. He was the trainer of generations.
In interview with the day (04/20/14) highlighted the need to “sow in the national culture the interest and importance of science to get ahead as a country.”
He was part of the International Astronomical Union and the Royal Astronomical Society.
The National College expressed its condolences to the family of Poveda Ricalde. He highlighted that he was one of the most outstanding astronomers in the country: “he received the main recognitions from his community, which today loses one of his most prominent figures”.
UNAM also mourned the death of its emeritus researcher. He recalled that he was coordinator of Scientific Research and a member of the Governing Board of this house of studies.
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