X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Ernst Öpik


Ernst Öpik

His grandson, Lembit Öpik, was formerly the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, and has some astronomical connection in that he is a noted supporter of searching for asteroids that may collide with the Earth.

Öpik fled his native country in 1944 because the approaching Red Army raised fear among Estonians.


History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses

For example, when Ernst Öpik estimated the density of a number of visual binary stars in 1916, he found that 40 Eridani B had a density of over 25,000 times the Sun's, which was so high that he called it "impossible".


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