Famous Dutch-American astronomer Tom Gehrels passed away last week at age 86. Professor Gehrels discovered thousands of asteroids and comets and published numerous scientific articles.

Gehrels, who was born in the Haarlemmermeer, the Netherlands, pioneered the first photometric system of asteroids in the 50s, and wavelength dependence of polarization of stars and planets in the 60s, each resulting in an extended sequence of papers in the Astronomical Journal. During World War II Gehrels was, as a teenager, active in the Dutch Resistance. After he escaped to England, he was sent back by parachute as an organizer for the British Special Operations Executive.

Gehrels joined the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in 1961 as an Associate Professor. He earned his B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from Leiden University in 1951, and his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Chicago in 1956.

Read more about Tom Gehrels in this interview with Govert Schilling in Sky & Telescope Magazine.