Víctor Manuel Blanco

Did You Know?

• Blanco built a backyard telescope as a child.
• During World War II he served in the US Army Air Force in the Pacific Theater, repairing and tuning radar detectors.

Career as an astronomer

Blanco began as an assistant professor of astrometry at the University of Puerto Rico. In 1948 he was recruited to work on the mirrors of the 200-inch Hale Telescope in California. He earned a master's degree and a Doctorate in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1949, then returned to the University of Puerto Rico. He later directed the Astrometry and Astrophysics Division of the United States Naval Observatory and served as an astronomer in Java, Indonesia for UNESCO.

Accomplishments

In 1959, while a professor of astrophysics at the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, Blanco discovered an open cluster later named Blanco 1, centered on the blue star Zeta Sculptoris. In July 1967 he became the second director of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, assembling its scientific, engineering, and technical staff from scratch. During his tenure, CTIO added the University of Michigan's 0.6-m Curtis Schmidt (1967), a 0.9-m reflector (1967), a 1.5-m reflector (1968), and Yale University's 1-m reflector (1973). Blanco played a central role in persuading agencies to build a four-meter telescope, personally overseeing its alignment and calibration; it opened in 1974 as the southern twin of the Kitt Peak 4-m and became the most productive telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. He maintained excellent relations with the Chilean astronomical community and public through the presidencies of Eduardo Frei Montalva, Salvador Allende, and Augusto Pinochet, serving as director until 1981.

Honors

On 8 September 1995, the CTIO 4-m telescope was officially named the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, also known as the Blanco 4m. A bronze plaque at the main entrance bears the name in Spanish and English. Asteroid 9550 Victorblanco, discovered in 1985 by Edward Bowell, was named in his honor; the citation was published on 9 March 2001.

Written works and academic memberships

Blanco co-authored articles including 'Telescopes, Red Stars, and Chilean Skies' (Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2001), 'Carbon stars' (Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, 1989), 'Late type giants in Large Magellanic Cloud' (Nature, 1975), and the book 'Basic Physics of the Solar System' (1961, with S. W. McCuskey). He was a member of International Astronomical Union divisions including Commission 25 (Stellar Photometry & Polarimetry), Commission 33 (Structure & Dynamics of the Galactic System), Commission 45 (Stellar Classification), and Commission 50 (Protection of Existing & Potential Observatory Sites).