Otto Struve

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Science & Tech

Otto Struve

American astronomer

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 10, 2024 • Article History

Category: Science & Tech

Born:: Aug. 12, 1897, Kharkov, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now Kharkiv, Ukraine]

Died:: April 6, 1963, Berkeley, Calif., U.S. (aged 65)

Subjects Of Study:: hydrogen; interstellar medium; spectrum; star

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Otto Struve (born Aug. 12, 1897, Kharkov, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now Kharkiv, Ukraine]—died April 6, 1963, Berkeley, Calif., U.S.) was a Russian-American astronomer known for his contributions to stellar spectroscopy, notably the discovery of the widespread distribution of hydrogen and other elements in space. Struve was the last member of a dynasty of astronomers and a great-grandson of the noted astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve. His studies at the University of Kharkov were interrupted for service in the Imperial Russian Army (1916–18) and, after the Russian Revolution, in the White Russian Army (1919–20). He endured months of privation in ...(100 of 405 words)

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