Richard Hunstead

{{Short description|Australian astronomer (1943–2020)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Richard Hunstead

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| birth_name = Richard Waller Hunstead

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1943|5|30}}

| birth_place = Sydney, Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2020|01|30|1943|5|30}}

| death_place = Sydney, Australia

| nationality = Australian

| fields = Astronomy {{*}} astrophysics

| workplaces = The University of Sydney

| alma_mater = The University of Sydney

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| notable_students =

| known_for = Scintillation

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Richard Waller Hunstead (30 May 1943 – 30 January 2020){{Cite web|url=https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/02/03/vale-professor-richard-hunstead.html|title=Vale Professor Richard Hunstead|website=The University of Sydney|language=en-AU|access-date=3 February 2020}}{{cite news |title=HUNSTEAD, Prof. Richard (Dick) Waller |url=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/127798/richard-waller-hunstead/ |access-date=15 February 2020 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 February 2020}} was a member and former head of the Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA) and the Director of the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST), within the University of Sydney. He was known for his work in the field of quasars and radio galaxies. In 1995, he was awarded the Robert Ellery Lectureship of the Astronomical Society of Australia in recognition of his outstanding contributions in astronomy. One of 33 Australian Science Citation Laureates (of which only nine are astronomers), he was the author of multiple high impact papers which are frequently cited by other scientists around the world. The minor planet 171429 Hunstead is named in his honour.http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=hunstead;orb=0;cov=0;log=0#elem

JPL Small-Body Database Browser (accessed 25 February 2008)

Hunstead's most notable achievements included the discovery of the variability of radio sources at low frequencies,Hunstead, R. W.,1972, Astrophysical Letters, 12, 193–200 resulting in a large number of related research projects, conferences and workshops internationally, and his research into the redshift evolution of the Lyman alpha absorption forest. Hunstead’s work on the Lyman alpha forest resolved much of the confusion surrounding the nature of the cloud population responsible for these absorption lines, by confirming that their comoving number density does indeed evolve with redshift.Murdoch H.S., Hunstead R. W., Pettini M., Blades J.C., 1986, Astrophysical Journal, 309, 19–32 He also contributed to our understanding of the metallicity, dust content and star formation rate in high redshift galaxies from his comprehensive study of damped Lyman alpha systems.Pettini M., Boksenburg A., Hunstead R.W., 1990, Astrophysical Journal, 348, 48–56Hunstead R. W., Pettini M., Fletcher A. B., 1990, Astrophysical Journal, 356, 23–31Pettini M., Smith L. J., Hunstead R. W., King D. L., 1994, Astrophysical Journal, 426, 79–96 This subsequently motivated interest in galaxy formation and evolution. More recently, he was involved in a study that showed radio loud quasars have distinct spectroscopic signatures that depend on their orientation and size.Baker J. C., Hunstead R. W., 1995, Astrophysical Journal, 452, L95-L98 In his final years, he led an international team to locate and study the first massive galaxies formed in the Universe.