Google Doodle celebrates Turkish astrophysicist Dilhan Eryurt

Google Doodle honors Turkish astrophysicist and NASA scientist Dilhan Eryurt on July 20, 2020.

Who was Dilhan Eryurt

Dilhan Eryurt was born on 29 November 1926, in Izmir in the west of Turkey. Her dad was Abidin Ege who was a Minister of Parliament (MP) in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for Denizli Province in 1944.

Soon after her dad’s appearance in Izmir, Dilhan’s family moved to Istanbul, and afterward to Ankara a few years after the fact. In the wake of finishing her primary education in Ankara, she proceeded to Ankara Girls’ High School.

In secondary school, Dilhan Eryurt had a special interest in science. Thus, after graduating from secondary school, she enrolled in the Istanbul University Department of Mathematics and Astronomy. She sought after her interest in astronomy during her university studies.

In the wake of finishing her studies, Dilhan Eryurt helped open an Astronomy Department at Ankara University, before getting her doctorate there in 1953 after spending time at the University of Michigan.

Dilhan Eryurt later had a two-year scholarship in Canada, the professor headed for the US, firstly to Indiana University, before working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

At that point, Dilhan Eryurt was the only female astronomer working at the institution – and she made incredible forward leaps according to the solar system’s greatest star.

Dilhan Eryurt was an astronomer, having some specialized in astrophysics, who made significant contributions to scientific research on the formation and development of the Sun, and other primary sequence stars.

From 1961–1973, Dr. Eryurt Ph.D., who was the first Turkish scientist at the Middle East Technical University (METU), acknowledged a position at NASA and set up the Astrophysics Department in the Middle East Technical University and was the Dean of the METU Science and Literature Faculty from 1988 to 1993.

Prof. Dr. Dilhan Eryurt discovered that the brightness of the Sun had diminished during its 4.5 billion years of life expectancy, which means it was hotter and brighter previously.

This affected investigation into space trips at that point – before later getting the Apollo Achievement Award for her work in assisting with model the solar effect on the lunar environment for Apollo 11’s Moon landing mission.

Eryurt was later sent to work at the California University, where she looked at the formation and improvement of Main Sequence stars – a consistent band of stars that show up on plots of stellar color versus brightness.

In 1968, the professor came back to Turkey to set up their first National Astronomy Congress, just to come back to NASA the next year.

Prof. Dr. Dilhan Eryurt resigned in 1993, after a recognized, accomplished, and dedicated career in astrophysics.

Prof. Dr. Dilhan Eryurt, unfortunately, died in Ankara on September 13, 2012, because of a heart attack.