Spiral Structure, Interstellar Medium and the Crab

Abstract

Spiral structure, interstellar medium and the Crab The Kootwijk radio observatory that had been built to search for the 21-cm line was used to map the spiral structure of our Galaxy. Oort got interested in the velocities of interstellar gas clouds and the nature of the Crab Nebula. In the latter he discovered with Fjeda Walraven that the emission of the amorphous body was polarized and that this light had to be synchrotron radiation. In 1958 Oort was elected President of the IAU.

We should do astronomy because it is beautiful and because

it is fun. We should do it because people want to know. We want

to know our place in the Universe and how things happen.

John Norris Bahcall (1934–2005)

Young people are drawn toward a scientific career;

large-scale facilities are made available

that can eventually be used for basic research.

Public attention is drawn toward science;

inertia, if nothing else, will leave the purses open for some time.

Jan Hendrik Bannier

In Science (1951; [268]), commenting on the aftermath of World War II and the science budget.