Life and Career of Jocelyn Tomkin, Astronomer -
Jocelyn Tomkin, Astronomer -
The late Jocelyn Tomkin (Aug 1945 – Apr 2020), a Research
Fellow at The University of Texas, was always fascinated with
astronomy. As a youth he enjoyed stargazing with a small
refracting telescope, not knowing that he would become a
professional astronomer. "I didn't know I actually wanted to
be an astronomer," he said. "I didn't decide that until I was
in my last year of college."
Jocelyn was born in his parents' native England and lived
there until he was six years old. The family then immigrated
to Tasmania, where his father took up sheep farming. After two
years, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and
younger brother to Ireland, where Jocelyn stayed until he
graduated from college.
Jocelyn was remembered as a most valuable colleague in the department. He was a stalwart observer and worker at the McDonald Observatory telescope in West Texas, and again back in Austin trying to make sense of the observations collected.
When he finished his college degree in physics, Jocelyn decided that he wanted to do astronomical research. At the University of Sussex in England he earned a Ph.D. in astronomy, and then took up a position doing research at the University of Texas in 1973, which was suggested by his Ph.D. supervisor Professor Bernard Pagel. For him, the best part about studying astronomy was the thrilling idea that it really was possible to discover something completely new.
When at the McDonald telescope they saw the star Groombridge
1830, Jocelyn was especially excited because it had been the
focus of his Ph.D., a dim star 15.9 light years away. It had
been interesting enough that his Ph.D. supervisor had already
renamed his own house in Lewes, UK to `Groombridge’.
Those McDonald observations of Groombridge 1830 led to the
discovery that the star’s atmosphere was deficient in the two
heavier isotopes of magnesium. This deficiency had been
predicted by theoreticians but not previously observed in any
star. It was Jocelyn’s extremely careful and detailed analysis
that uncovered the deficiency and created some excitement.
Recently it is suspected to have a planetary system. The
magnesium discovery was but one in a string of novel results
in which Jocelyn was ultimately involved.
Colleagues have said they enjoyed collaborations with many
astronomers from across the world but declare without
hesitation that Jocelyn was one of the best.
Colleagues were also impressed by how Jocelyn readily adapted
to working with a continuing string of postdoc and graduate
students from the US and across the world who came through the
University of Texas at Austin during these 35 years. Jocelyn
was a true gentleman in and out of astronomy.
He never married nor had a significant other, but dedicated his spare time to helping others. Two different non-profit societies in Austin were beneficiaries of his volunteer time, as well as his teaching of individual under-privileged youths and adults how to read for many years. When his younger brother moved to the USA in the early 1990s, he was of outstanding material assistance in aiding this brother's housing and immigration status.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Jocelyn used the 1997 Hipparcos satellite data
release to create the most up-to-date list ever of
the historically brightest stars over the last or
next 5 million years [sic] published
by Wikipedia in 1998 at -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_brightest_stars
although it is understood that improved satellite
telescope imagery since then has modified this
list.
When he was diagnosed with Parkinson's he moved to
North Carolina to be near his brother for his
final years.
He published over sixty peer-reviewed papers on original
research results during his career, many of which can be seen
with a simple web search using the phrase "Jocelyn Tomkin
astronomer" providing a wealth of material generated during
his career.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Jocelyn used the 1997 Hipparcos satellite data
release to create the most up-to-date list ever of
the historically brightest stars over the last or
next 5 million years [sic] published
by Wikipedia in 1998 at -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_brightest_stars
although it is understood that improved satellite
telescope imagery since then has modified this
list.
When he was diagnosed with Parkinson's he moved to
North Carolina to be near his brother for his
final years.
=== o0o ===
(DISCLAIMER - We take no responsibility for the
contents of this website because we are running Windows and
everyone knows what a weak, insecure operating system that is.
What we do not understand is why so many of you idiots pay for it
when we could use a bomb-proof system called Linux which is
legally free and open source. In any event, please note that we
take no responsibility for that either. Nor will we accept any
liability, tacit or implied, for any damage you may or may not
incur as a result of reading, or not, as the case may be, any part
of this website, in whole or in part, - no, we said that already -
notwithstanding any liabilities implied or otherwise, and no
matter what happens, IT IS NOT, and NEVER WILL BE, OUR FAULT.
Message to any Alien readers - Please for god's sake come and take
over our governments everywhere and kill all the corrupt leaders,
and install a sane economy - the sooner the better. Maybe you can
do away with the billionaires also.)