Robert Jelle Rutten (1942 - 2022)

So long, my teacher and friend. You will be hugely missed.

The final days of the Utrecht astronomy

Many streets in Utrecht are named after celestial bodies or astronomical terms - Meteoorhof, Jupiterstraat, Eclipshof, Komeetstraat, Venuslaan, etc. There is also Zonstraat - a cozy street dedicated to the Sun that goes all the way through one of the most beautiful neighborhoods to the old observatory Sonnenborgh. Some people in the street keep "solar portraits" on their facades and in the windows. It's a real shame that only memories are left of astronomy in this town.

 

More on the fallout of Utrecht astronomy: 

C. U. Keller: Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht: The Last Years

R. J. Rutter: Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht

Nature 

Good Night and Good Luck, Utrecht Astronomers

Austerity bites in Utrecht 

PhD defense

I finally add this post almost two years after my PhD defense. I have no memory any more of any fear that I felt before the ceremony, but I do remember that day very well. A day of a great relief  that one big job is finally done.

At the defense. The committee (from left to right): Prof. Dr. A. Achterberg, Prof. Dr. A. de Koter, Prof. Dr. R. J. Rutten, Prof. Dr. H.Eijkelhof and Prof. Dr. C. U. Keller (Prof. Dr. R. Keppens and Prof. Dr. F. Verbunt are out of the image). One note: it is strictly forbidden to take pictures during the defense. This picture was taken by a guest who was late at the ceremony and has not heard the rules at its beginning. Anyway, I am very happy that it exists.

I was overjoyed (and I still am) that I shared the moment with my paranymphs - my wife Nadezda and my friend Bartolomeo... and with the infamous Utrecht crew.

Observational Signatures of the Simulated Solar Photosphere

My PhD thesis is titled "Observational Signatures of the Simulated Solar Photosphere". The very general titles as this one are rather common among the PhD theses defended at the Dutch universities. They reflect the praxis that a thesis is assembled from several papers / research projects that are not always on the same subject. My thesis contains 5 papers, the introduction, the summary (in English, Dutch and Serbo-Croatian) and the acknowledgments. The papers address the problems of the solar abundance of indium, of the formation of a activity-sensitive MnI line, of the horizontal supersonic shocks in the solar photosphere, and - in the final two chapters - problem of various diagnostics of the umbral dots. For more information, please check the thesis introduction.

The thesis in the pdf format can be downloaded from the University of Utrecht library service.

If you cite the thesis (parts that are not yet published as individual papers), please cite it as:
Vitas, N. 2011, PhD thesis, Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht

The woodcut on the cover is from the graphic novel "The Sun" by Flemish artist Frans Masereel.