Osman Demircan

Turkey

1949-2023

Obituary:

Prof. Demircan was born in Çanakkale in 1949. He graduated from Izmir Teacher Training High School and Ege University in 1971 from the physics, mathematics and astronomy programs. In 1978, he completed his master's and doctoral studies at the University of Manchester, England, on the modeling of close binary stars. In 1978, he received a scholarship from the Apollo Project during his postdoctoral work at the same place.

Between 1979 and 1981, he prepared the infrastructure and started teaching Astronomy at the Physics Department of Benghazi, Libya University. He taught Physics and Astronomy at METU Department of Physics between 1982 and 1989. He received Science awards from the Rectorate and TÜBİTAK for his scientific research during this period, served as the first consultant of the still active Amateur Astronomy Society (ODTÜ-AAT), and contributed to the establishment of the observatory building containing a 40-cm telescope for student activities and the planning of observational astronomy programs. Meanwhile, he taught Observational Astronomy at Bilkent University Physics Department for a year.

Between 1989 and 1999, he worked actively at Ankara University Observatory and the Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences with his research group from the Rectorate, Prof. Dr. He received awards from the Mustafa Parlar Foundation and the Turkish Aeronautical Association. Prof. Dr. Osman DEMİRCAN has taken an active role in every stage of the idea of a National Observatory, its establishment and effective use since the early 1980s.

Prof. Dr. Osman DEMİRCAN worked at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University's Physics and Astronomy and Space Sciences and Technologies Departments, which he founded, until 2016, when he retired in October 2012.

Prof. Dr. Osman DEMİRCAN was the founding director of Ulupınar Observatory until his retirement and was the pioneer of the acceleration of astronomy and astrophysics studies at Onsekiz Mart University. Throughout his academic life, Prof. Dr. Osman DEMİRCAN organized about thirty national and international scientific meetings, made scientific contributions to dozens of international meetings, educated thousands of undergraduate students and thirty graduate students, and touched the lives of countless students with his exemplary personality. He has contributed significantly to the literature with nearly 300 national and international scientific publications and more than 10 books in the field of astronomy and astrophysics. Especially between 2017-2022, he wrote the book "A Guide to Close Binary Systems" together with his longtime colleague and friend Prof. Dr. Edwin Budding. The book is an updated version of Zdenek Kopal's 1959 book "Close Binary Systems".

Prof. Dr. Osman DEMİRCAN was one of the valuable scientists of Turkey who contributed significantly to the academic life besides public outreach activities.