Harlan J. Smith; Former Observatory Director

Harlan J. Smith, 67, former director of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory and an astronomer credited with discovering the variability of quasars, the influence of solar wind on radio emissions and the existence of variable stars called dwarf cepheids. Smith directed the observatory in the Davis Mountains in west Texas from 1963 until his retirement in 1989. He also was chairman of the university’s astronomy department during a time of great expansion. Smith helped develop the world’s third-largest reflector telescope, at 107 inches, and had been working on a spectroscopic telescope that will probably rank as the second-largest when completed. He also helped develop the popular “Story of the Universe” film series. In Austin, Tex., on Oct. 17 of cancer.