Eric Becklin
American astronomer
Eric E. Becklin (born 6 April 1940) is an American astrophysicist. The primary focus of Becklin's research is infrared imaging and spectroscopy, including the search for brown dwarfs, the detection of circumstellar dust rings, the dynamics and composition of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and the nature of luminous infrared galaxies.
Becklin received his Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology His thesis advisor was Gerry Neugebauer, and his thesis was Infrared Observation of the Galatic [sic] Center. A faculty member since 1989, Becklin is a Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Named Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Chief Scientist in 1996, he was the first director of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) at Mauna Kea, Hawaii and a principal investigator on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO).
On August 23, 2012, in a ceremony held at Dryden Flight Research Center (now the Armstrong Flight Research Center), Becklin received the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal “for excellence as a pioneer in the infrared astronomy field and providing key leadership for the scientific success of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.” He was awarded the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship by the American Astronomical Society in 2017.
In 1966, Becklin and Gerry Neugebauer discovered an exceptionally bright infrared source within Orion known today as the Becklin-Neugebauer Object. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.
In 1988, while returning home from an observing run on Mauna Kea, Becklin was a passenger on Aloha Airlines Flight 243, which underwent explosive decompression and had to make an emergency landing in Maui.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Eric Becklin” as american astronomer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american astronomer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1351089. VIAF identifies the subject as 91655645. The Library of Congress control number is n87933002. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1940, 1989, 1996 and 2012.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Eric Becklin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Eric Becklin primary sources, Eric Becklin archive and Eric research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Eric Becklin”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Eric Becklin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.