Dilhan Eryurt "Google Doodle" | First Turkish NASA scientist

Dilhan Eryurt honored with a "Google Doodle"

Dilhan Eryurt was a Turkish astrophysicist. Eryurt was the first Turkish scientist to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She founded the Department of Astrophysics at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara and was Dean of the Faculty of Science and Literature at METU.

Dilhan Eryurt was the first Turkish scientist at NASA. Google doodle.

Life of Dilhan Eryurt

Eryurt was born in Izmir in 1926 as the daughter of the politician Abidin Ege, who represented the Denizli Province as a deputy in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1944 and was also Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture. 

Eryurt first attended elementary school and later a secondary school for girls. There she developed a special interest in mathematics and after graduating from high school she started studying at the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Istanbul Üniversitesi and specialized in astronomy during her studies. 

After graduating in 1946, she worked for two years without pay as a scientific assistant to Tevfik Oktay Kabakçıoğlu, who was to establish a Department of Astronomy at the Ankara University.

Eryurt then went on to graduate studies at the University of Michigan, receiving her doctorate in 1953 from the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Ankara, where she then worked as an associate professor. 

She then went to Indiana University in the United States on a scholarship from Soroptimist International to conduct research on the creation of star models at the Goethe-Link Observatory. 

The previously held view that the brightness and intensity of the Sun had increased in the first four billion years since its formation was corrected after Eryurt determined that the Sun had been brighter and warmer in the past.

Dilhan Eryurt made an important discoveries which contributed to the success of the moon landing mission Apollo 11.

After two years at the Goddard Institute, Eryurt worked there as head of a research group.

The Institute sent her to the University of California where she did research on the formation and evolution of stars. In 1988 she headed the Department of Physics for six months and then became Dean of the Faculty of Science and Literature.

Family

Eryurt was married to the lawyer and politician Sabahattin Eryurt.

Recognition

Since 2017, the Middle East University of Technology in Ankara has been holding the annual Dilhan Eryurt Astronomy Day in memory of the astronomer, which is intended to promote the exchange between students and scientists in the field of astronomy.

On 20 July 2020, Google honoured her with a logo ("Google-Doodle") as the first Turkish scientist at NASA.

Prof. Dr. Dilhan Eryurt
Dilhan Eryurt Google Doodle.
Born	29 November 1926 İzmir, Turkey.
Died	13 September 2012 (aged 85) Ankara, Turkey.
Alma mater	Istanbul University. University of Michigan. University of Ankara.
Awards	Apollo Achievement Award. Tübitak Science Award.
Scientific career.
Fields	Astrophysics (Heliology).
Institutions	Indiana University. Goethe Link Observatory. Goddard Space Flight Center. Middle East Technical University NASA.

Source: Wikipedia.

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Reference: http://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/12168676/dilhan-eryurt-google-doodle-nasa/

Title 89 characters	Who was Dilhan Eryurt? Google Doodle celebrates Turkish astrophysicist and NASA scientist
Description	This Turkish astrophysicist is famous for her studies of the sun and stars with Nasa as well as helping with future space missions.