astronomy

William Liller

William Liller is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand William Liller rather than just read about it. In short: William Liller (April 1, 1927 – February 28, 2021) was an American astronomer, known for his research on "planetary nebulae, comets, asteroids, magnetic activity in cool stars, the optical identification of X-ray sources, and astro-archaeology." Biography He matriculated in 1944 at Harvard College, where he graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in astronomy, after an 11-month interruption for service in the U.S…

Key takeaways

William Liller belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect William Liller to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of William Liller from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

William Liller (April 1, 1927 – February 28, 2021) was an American astronomer, known for his research on "planetary nebulae, comets, asteroids, magnetic activity in cool stars, the optical identification of X-ray sources, and astro-archaeology."

Biography He matriculated in 1944 at Harvard College, where he graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in astronomy, after an 11-month interruption for service in the U.S. Navy from July 1945 to June 1946. He received in 1953 his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Michigan. His Ph.D. thesis, supervised by Lawrence H. Aller, dealt with the central stars and expansion rates of planetary nebulae. From 1953 to 1960 Liller was a junior faculty member at the University of Michigan. At Harvard University, he became in 1960 a full professor and in 1962 was appointed Robert Wheeler Willson Professor of Applied Astronomy. He discovered two minor planets, several novae, the globular star cluster Liller 1 in Scorpius, and comet C/1988 A1 (Liller). He was an author of several popular books on the subject of astronomy, a member of the International Astronomical Union, the American Astronomical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and AAVSO. He was also awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Natural Sciences. The minor planet 3222 Liller was named in his honor. In 1991 a festschrift was published in his honor. In 1981 Liller resigned from Harvard University and became the associate director of the Instituto Isaac Newton with main office in the eastern outskirts of Santiago Chile. He maintained a small but well-equipped observatory in Viña del Mar about 120 kilometers west of Santiago. In 1986 NASA funded Liller's three-month stay on Easter Island, where he set up a small observatory to observe Halley's Comet. During this time he became fascinated with the island's many ancient temples and eventually began a program of archaeoastronomy. He and his Chilean third wife lived in Reñaca, Chile in a villa on high cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He was a vice-president of the Easter Island Foundation and an expert on the ancient culture of Rapanui. His doctoral students include Christine Jones Forman and Debra Elmegreen.

Selected publications

Articles Gottlieb, E. W.; Wright, E. L.; Liller, W. (1975). "Optical studies of UHURU sources. XI. A probable period for Scorpius X-1 = V818 Sco". The Astrophysical Journal. 195: L33. doi:10.1086/181703. Liller, W. (1977). "Searches for the optical counterparts of the X-ray burst sources MXB 1728-34 and MXB 1730-33". The Astrophysical Journal. 213: L21. Bibcode:1977ApJ...213L..21L. doi:10.1086/182401. Bond, H. E.; Liller, W.; Mannery, E. J. (1978). "UU Sagittae - Eclipsing nucleus of the planetary nebula Abell 63". The Astrophysical Journal. 223: 252. Bibcode:1978ApJ...223..252B. doi:10.1086/156257. Giacconi, R.; Bechtold, J.; Branduardi, G.; Forman, W.; Henry, J. P.; Jones, C.; Kellogg, E.; Van Der Laan, H.; Liller, W.; Marshall, H.; Murray, S. S.; Pye, J.; Schreier, E.; Sargent, W. L. W.; Seward, F.; Tananbaum, H. (1979). "A high-sensitivity X-ray survey using the Einstein Observatory and the discrete source contribution to the extragalactic X-ray background". The Astrophysical Journal. 234: L1. Bibcode:1979ApJ...234L...1G. doi:10.1086/183099. hdl:1887/6390. Forman, W.; Schwarz, J.; Jones, C.; Liller, W.; Fabian, A. C. (1979). "X-ray observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster". The Astrophysical Journal. 234: L27–L31. Bibcode:1979ApJ...234L..27F. doi:10.1086/183103. Kowal, C. T.; Liller, W.; Marsden, B. G. (1979). "The Discovery and Orbit of (2060) Chiron". Symposium - International Astronomical Union. 81: 245–250. doi:10.1017/S007418090001281X. S2CID 122886147. Kahler, S.; et al. (1982). "Coordinated X-ray, optical, and radio observations of flaring activity on YZ Canis Minoris". The Astrophysical Journal. 252: 239. Bibcode:1982ApJ...252..239K. doi:10.1086/159551. Liller, William (1989). "The Archaeoastronomy of Easter Island". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. 19: 47–53. Bibcode:1989RMxAA..19...47L. Schaefer, Bradley E.; Liller, William (1990). "Refraction near the horizon". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 102: 796. Bibcode:1990PASP..102..796S. doi:10.1086/132705. S2CID 119464061.

Books and booklets Liller, William; Mayer, Ben (23 August 1990). Cambridge Astronomy Guide. CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521399159. Liller, William (30 October 1992). The Cambridge Guide to Astronomical Discovery. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521418393. Liller, William (1993). The Ancient Solar Observatories of Rapanui: The Archaeoastronomy of Easter Island. Cloud Mountain Press. ISBN 9781880636015. Rapahango, Ana Betty Haoa; Liller, William (1996). Speak Rapanui! : the language of Easter Island = ¡Hable rapanui! : la lengua de Isla de Pascua. Los Osos, California: Easter Island Foundation. ISBN 9781880636039; 133 pages : illustrations, map; 14 x 22 cm.; trilingual language-phrase booklet{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

References

External links IAU individual members William Liller Profile Book: The Cambridge guide to astronomical discovery, 1992

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Liller

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Liller claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to William Liller before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about William Liller ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of William Liller

In research: William Liller appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses William Liller in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: William Liller is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1927 births, 2021 deaths, 20th-century American astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Liller outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study William Liller in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
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Frequently asked questions

What is William Liller in simple terms?

Why does William Liller matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study William Liller?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on William Liller.