Bernard Flood Burke (June 7, 1928 – August 5, 2018) was an American astronomer. He co-discovered radio emission from Jupiter, and was part of the team that discovered the first Einstein ring in 1988.
From 1953 until 1965, he was employed to carry out radio astronomy research by Carnegie Institution of Washington, where he also headed the Radio Astronomy Section from 1962 until 1965. Burke became a faculty member of the Physics department at MIT and later was the William A. M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics, Emeritus.[1][3] He was a principal investigator of the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at MIT.[4]
He served on the National Science Foundation Astronomy Advisory Panel between 1958 and 1963, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Visiting Committee in 1958–1962. He was a Trustee for Associated Universities, Inc. between 1972 and 1990. He was also a member of Planetary Systems Working Group and the Towards Other Planetary Systems Scientific Working Group, and he was on advisory councils and committees for the National Research Council, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Board, the Keck Telescope, the Naval Studies Board and the Space Science Board.[1]
He was Councilor and later President of the American Astronomical Society in 1971–74 and 1986–88. He was a member of the National Science Foundation Astronomy Advisory Panel in 1958–63.[4][5]
Research
[edit]Roadside historic marker along River Road near the former Seneca Observatory that details a co-discovery of Bernard Flood Burke's.
He also researched exoplanets, and worked on both ground- and space-based VLBI.[1]
He co-authored Introduction to Radio Astronomy, a textbook that has had three editions, with Francis Graham-Smith.[1]
Jansky Lecturer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), 1998[1][4] He donated his papers, some linear 16.5 feet (5.0 m) in size, to the NRAO archives in July–September 2011.[1]
He was married to Jane Pann Burke, and later to Elizabeth (Betsy) Platt. He had a daughter, Elizabeth Kahn, and three sons, Mark, Geoffrey, and Matthew. He had 8 grand children and 1 great-grandchild at the time of his death.[2] He died on August 5, 2018.[4]
^Hewitt, J. N.; Turner, E. L.; Schneider, D. P.; Burke, B. F.; Langston, G. I.; Lawrence, C. R. (June 9, 1988). "Unusual radio source MG1131+0456: a possible Einstein ring". Nature. 333 (6173): 537–540. Bibcode:1988Natur.333..537H. doi:10.1038/333537a0. S2CID23277001.
