Harlan Smith, Noted Astronomer

AUSTIN, Texas - Harlan Smith, an astronomer who recently received NASA's Distinguished Public Service medal, has died of cancer. He was 67.

Smith, retired director of the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas, died Thursday at Seton Medical Center, the university said yesterday. He had been hospitalized since Oct. 11.

Smith came from Yale University in 1963 to join the University of Texas faculty and become director of the observatory in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. He retired as observatory director in 1989.

Author and astronomer Carl Sagan called Smith a pioneer in planetary radio astronomy and said his death was a great loss.

"Harlan Smith was an extraordinary scientist, notable in his intellectual breadth, organizational ability and humane perspective. He offered me advice and encouragement from the beginning of my scientific career," said Sagan.

A native of Wheeling, W.Va., Smith was educated at Harvard and joined Yale's faculty in 1953.

In Austin, he expanded the astronomy department and was largely responsible for the joint UT-NASA construction of the 107-inch McDonald reflector telescope, one of the world's largest.

As a researcher, he was credited with discovering the variability of quasars, the influence of solar wind on radio emissions from Jupiter and the existence of variable stars known as dwarf Cepheids.

His later research interests included analysis of planetary atmospheres, quasars, variable stars, photometry and instrumentation.

He served on many national scientific committees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the National Research Council. Smith was chairman of the board of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.