Labels:text | font | document | paper | black and white | letter OCR: (1893-1985) ERNST JULIUS ÖPIK was the first astronomer to suggest that there is a spherical cloud of comets surrounding the Solar System. Today we know that billions of comets make up the Öpik-Oort Cloud - jointly named for Öpik, an Estonian, and the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort (1900-92). Öpik's early work concentrated on the progressive erosion of meteoroids as they fall through the Earth's atmosphere. A clear understanding of this process proved essential in the development of heat shields for spacecraft reentering the Earth's atmosphere from space. 1893 Born on October 23, in Kunda, just north of Rakvere, Estonia. 1916 After completing his education at the State University of Tartu, Estonia, Opik starts work at Tashkent Observatory in Uzbekistan, South- Central Asia. 1918 Begins work as a ...
