René Racine MSRC OQ (16 October 1939 – 18 December 2025) was a French-Canadian academic and astronomer who specialised in the study of globular clusters.[1]
René Racine | |
|---|---|
 Racine in 2009 | |
| Born | 16 October 1939 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | 18 December 2025 (aged 86) Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Occupations | Academic, astronomer |
Life and career
editRacine was born in Quebec City. He obtained a bachelor's degree in physics from Laval University in 1963, and master's and doctoral degrees (Ph.D in astronomy) in 1965 and in 1967, respectively, from the University of Toronto. He received a research scholarship at the Carnegie Institute.
Between 1967 and 1969, he was a Carnegie Fellow at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories near Pasadena, California in the United States. He operated the Mt. Mégantic Observatory from 1976–1980, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope from 1980–1984, and then returning to Mt. Mégantic Observatory from 1984–1997.[2]
In 1994, Racine and colleagues recalibrated the value of the Hubble constant, which helps to measure extragalactic distances, and the size and the age of the Universe.[citation needed]
On 10 February 2000, Denis Bergeron, in Val-des-Bois, was the first to discover an asteroid from Quebec. The asteroid, 45580 Renéracine, was named in honor of Racine.[2]
Racine was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1999. In 2009, Racine resigned from the Order to protest Henry Morgentaler's appointment. Racine remained in the Ordre National du Québec.[3]
Racine died in Quebec City on 18 December 2025, at the age of 86.[4]
Accolades
edit- Price Léon Lortie of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal in 1988.
- Member of the Royal Society of Canada in 1989.
- Member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1991.
- Beals of the Canadian Astronomical Society in 1992.
- Scientist Award of the year by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1994.
- Order of Canada in 1999, resigned the honour in 2009.
- Queen Elizabeth II (2002, 1977) Golden Jubilee Medal of Her Majesty.[5]
References
edit- ↑ "René Racine | Astronomers". January 2016.
- 1 2 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". NASA. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
- ↑ Office of the Governor General of Canada (1 June 2009), Media > News Releases and Messages > Resignations from the Order of Canada, Queen's Printer for Canada, retrieved 1 June 2009
- ↑ Remembering René Racine
- ↑ "René Racine – Ordre national du Québec".