CENTENARY OF LÁSZLÓ DETRE'S BIRTH
Date of issue: 30 March 2006
The astronomer László Detre (1906-1974) was the director of the
Astronomy Research Institute on Svábhegy (from 1951 under the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences (HAS)), a professor, an associate member of HAS
(1946) and a full member (from 1973), and a doctor of astronomy. He was a
dominant figure of Hungarian astronomy in the 20th century,
reorganising the Svábhegy Observatory and creating the Mátra
Observatory. Between 1924-27 he was a student at Eötvös College, then
continued his studies with scholarships at universities in Germany,
obtaining his doctorate in Berlin in 1929.
He was a member of the Astrophysics Observatory, and became its
director in 1943. From the series of data amassed over long years he
drew highly important conclusions regarding the oscillation of light
over long periods and the physical characteristics of stars. These
observations won him international recognition and Detre became a
permanent member of the International Astronomical Union’s Variable
Stars Commission, of which he became president (1967-70). Publication of
the Information Bulletin of Variable Stars began in 1961 due to his
efforts. After 1948, he reorganised and expanded the HAS Observatory,
and invested much energy in establishing an observatory in the good
conditions for observation offered by the Mátra Hills. The observatory
on one of the peaks of the Mátra, Piszkéstető, began work in 1962. He
devoted great attention to upcoming generations of astronomers and was
committed to spreading knowledge of astronomy. His annual reports giving
a broad summary of the latest achievements in astronomy were of
particular value. Asteroid 1540 discovered by György Kulin, the “Detre
asteroid”, bears his name.
On the stamp there is a portrait of László Detre with the
Piszkéstető Observatory next to it. The background shows the night sky
and a telescope. The first day cover features a view of the universe,
while the postmark is a stylised drawing of a telescope.
Source:
www.members.iif.hu
Order code:
2006070010011/stamp
2006070060012/FDC
Perforated size: 50 x 30 mm
Number of copies: 200,000
Date of issue: 30 March 2006
Printed by Állami Nyomda Nyrt.
Face value: HUF 212
Designed by Nagy Péter
