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`!Olin Chaddock Wilson`! (January 13, 1909 – July 13, 1994) was an American `F33f`_`[astronomer`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Astronomer]`_`f best known for his work as a stellar `F33f`_`[spectroscopist`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Spectroscopy]`_`f.`:cite-ref-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-1]`_`f]

Born in San Francisco, California as the son of a lawyer, Wilson showed an interest in physics at an early age. He studied astronomy and physics at the `F33f`_`[University of California, Berkeley`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=University_of_California,_Berkeley]`_`f and wrote his first scientific paper in 1932 on the subject of the `F33f`_`[speed of light`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Speed_of_light]`_`f. He received his `F33f`_`[PhD`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doctor_of_Philosophy]`_`f from the `F33f`_`[California Institute of Technology`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=California_Institute_of_Technology]`_`f in 1934.

Wilson was a staff member of `F33f`_`[Mount Wilson Observatory`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Mount_Wilson_Observatory]`_`f (not named after Olin Wilson) for most of his research career where he studied `F33f`_`[stellar`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Star]`_`f `F33f`_`[chromospheres`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Chromosphere]`_`f. He was the first scientist to discover activity cycles, similar to the `F33f`_`[solar`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Sun]`_`f 11-year `F33f`_`[sunspot`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Sunspot]`_`f cycle, in other stars. In collaboration with `F33f`_`[Vainu Bappu`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Vainu_Bappu]`_`f, an Indian astronomer, he also showed that there was a correlation between the width of the Ca II lines in stellar `F33f`_`[spectra`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Spectrum]`_`f and the star's `F33f`_`[luminosity`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Luminosity]`_`f, the `F33f`_`[Wilson–Bappu effect`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Wilson–Bappu_effect]`_`f.`:cite-ref-2[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-2]`_`f]

He gave the `F33f`_`[Henry Norris Russell Lectureship`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Henry_Norris_Russell_Lectureship]`_`f in 1977 and won the `F33f`_`[Bruce Medal`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bruce_Medal]`_`f in 1984.`:cite-ref-preston-1995-3-0[`F5bf`_`[3`#cite-note-preston-1995-3]`_`f]

>>Contents

• `F0af`_`[References`#references]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[External links`#external-links]`_`f

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>>References

`:cite-note-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-1]`_`f `:citerefsciences2003`aSciences, National Academy of (2003-05-07). `*Biographical Memoirs: Volume 82`*. National Academies Press. pp. 353–370. `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-0-309-08698-1.

`:cite-note-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-2]`_`f `:citerefridpath2012`aRidpath, Ian (2012-01-19). `*A Dictionary of Astronomy`*. OUP Oxford. p. 510. `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-0-19-960905-5.

`:cite-note-preston-1995-3`!3.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-preston-1995-3-0]`_`f `:citerefpreston1995`aPreston, George W. (1995). "Olin C. Wilson (1909-1994)". `*Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific`*. `!107`! (708): 97. `F33f`_`[Bibcode`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bibcode_(identifier)]`_`f:1995PASP..107...97P. `F33f`_`[doi`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doi_(identifier)]`_`f:10.1086/133523. `F33f`_`[S2CID`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=S2CID_(identifier)]`_`f 121127702.

>>External links

• National Academy of Sciences biography

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