GUILLERMO HARO BARRAZA: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS AND PUBLICATIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Guillermo Haro Barraza (1913 - 1988) was a 20th century Mexican philosopher and astronomer. During his life, he became the father of Mexican astrophysics. The greatest contribution of this scientist to knowledge was the discovery of the Herbig - Haro objects.

He also contributed to the development of astronomy in Mexico, promoting the creation of institutions dedicated to the study of this field in the country. Haro Barraza was always very concerned about the scientific backwardness that existed in the nation and devoted himself to trying to close gaps for future generations.

The Mexican Academy of Sciences was one of the spaces that Haro Barraza was in charge of promoting. It was created in 1959 and had as one of its founding members the astronomer, who was also its first vice president, and between 1960 and 1962 its president.

He also founded the National Institute of Optical and Electronic Astrophysics (INAOE), which served as a substitute for the National Astrophysical Observatory of Tonantzintla, known as OANTON.

Guillermo Haro Barraza was the youngest member to enter the National College of Mexico, which is an academy that includes the most outstanding scientists and artists in the country. His entry was in 1953, when he was 40 years old.

He was also the first Mexican to be elected as a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, located in London, United Kingdom.

He was married twice. His second link was with the renowned journalist Elena Poniatowska, with whom he had two children named Paula and Felipe. Poniatowska has written several books related to the life of Guillermo Haro Barraza (a novel, a biography and other texts).

There is a galaxy that was named after him: the Haro 11 galaxy, since it was the first to make it part of a scientific study in 1956.

Guillermo Haro Barraza went down in history as one of the most prominent Mexicans in the field of science, as well as being one of the great promoters of astronomical studies in the country. Several institutions bear his name and he has been recognized on numerous occasions for his work.

Biography

Early years

Guillermo Benito Haro Barraza was born on March 21, 1913 in Mexico City. His father was José de Haro y Marrón and his mother was Mrs. Leonor Barraza. At first the family settled in San Lucas, in Coyoacán.

Guillermo's father did not live with Leonor and the children they had together, but with a sister of hers named Paz de Haro. This was mainly due to the fact that Dona Leonor was not of the same social status as José de Haro.

Guillermo's brothers were called María Luisa, Leonor, Carlos, Ignacio and another who died very early. All the children were influenced by their mother, who was responsible for their care and education.

At an early age, Guillermo fell in love with heaven. When I was little I thought that the firmament ended in the mountains of Mexico. It was during a trip with his mother that he discovered there was no end. That inspired him to pursue his career as an astronomer.

When Guillermo Haro Barraza was 12 years old, his mother died. There began a new life for him and his brothers, who were left in the care of Paz, his father's sister, who could not get along with her nephews.

Young Guillermo finished primary education with honors at the Alvarado College, then went on to study at the Morelos High School run by the Marists.

Youth

In the first years he spent in Lucerna Street in Colonia Juárez, Guillermo Haro Barraza found one of the most important friends of his life, the young Hugo Magrain, who studied with him and shared many of his inclinations, such as reading and writing. debates about the future of the country.

For Haro Barraza, the intellectual stimulation that he obtained by constantly talking and discussing ideas with his friends in his youth was essential in the development of his person and, eventually, of his career.

Between 1938 and 1939, Haro Barraza wrote some articles for El Nacional de México.

His first steps in higher education were taken when he entered the Escuela Libre de Derecho as a student, but he soon discovered that this was not his passion.

Then he enrolled in the Philosophy career at the National University (UNAM). There, Haro Barraza obtained a bachelor's degree and his preferred area was epistemology, although that was not his true inclination either.

Between Joyce's readings and visits to the Tonantzintla Astrophysical Observatory, in Puebla, where the boy worked as an assistant to Luis E. Erró between 1937 and 1940, Guillermo Haro Barraza discovered that his vocation was in astronomy.

During the 1940s he approached Bassols, a leftist politician, who ran the weekly Combate, with whom Haro Barraza was also involved.

Race

In 1943, Guillermo Haro got a scholarship at Harvard University, thanks to his mentor Luis Erró. With it, she could study for a year at the Harvard College Observatory, where she carried out scientific research and collaborated with other astronomers at the university.

This experience opened the eyes of the Mexican about the training that should be provided to the young astronomers of his country if progress was to be made in the national sciences.

Between 1943 and 1947, Haro Barraza collaborated with Harlow Shapley, with Jason J. Nassau and also with Otto Struve.

Starting in 1948, Guillermo Haro Barraza served as the director of the National Astronomical Observatory of the UNAM, in Tacubaya. In that position he had to remain for two decades.

From there, Haro was in charge of supporting and training new astronomers both within the country and abroad, with the creation of numerous scholarships. That allowed the study of this science to develop rapidly.

In 1956, Haro included for the first time a galaxy whose main characteristic was a bluish color, it was called the Haro 11 Galaxy.

In the institution that he directed, novae, supernovae, quasars and other objects were also discovered, thanks to other scientists who worked together with Haro.

Haro and his mentor Luis Erró had some differences for a time; however, after amending them, they worked together again and eventually the Tonintzintla and Tacubaya observatories were unified under Haro's direction.

Personal life

Guillermo Haro Barraza had a close relationship with his sister María Luisa. She, like him, remembered the moments they had spent together with their mother Leonor, who died while they were children.

After their mother passed away, the five children moved with their father to their aunt's house. The Haro brothers failed to establish a strong bond with their father, since he was never very interested in them. In fact, he only lived with his children after they had been orphaned.

Guillermo Haro Barraza's first marriage was with Gladys Learn Rojas, who helped him with the translation of his scientific texts into English.

After divorcing his first wife, Haro Barraza met the journalist Elena Poniatowska when she interviewed him. She was also divorced and had a son from her previous marriage, named Emmanuel.

The couple married in 1968 and had two children named Felipe and Paula Haro Poniatowska.

Another of the most important people in Guillermo Haro Barraza's life was his friend Hugo Magrais, with whom he shared fundamental moments for his training, especially during adolescence.

Death

Thelmadatter, from Wikimedia Commons

Guillermo Haro Barraza died on April 27, 1988 in Mexico City. The astronomer was 75 years old, but had many unfinished projects.

He was buried in Tonatzintla, along with his teacher and friend Luis Enrique Erró. Later, in 1994, half of his ashes were deposited in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons, where the most prominent sons of Mexico rest.

Contributions

Herbig Objects - Haro

Guillermo Haro Barraza and Hawaiian astronomer George Herbig simultaneously discovered a phenomenon that was dubbed Herbig-Haro objects. These are nebulae, or high-density cloud condensations, associated with new stars.

Its creation is due to the interaction between the gas that the star expels with clouds of gaseous material and interstellar dust.

Haro Galaxy 11

This galaxy was baptized with the surname of Guillermo Haro, although it is also known simply as H11. The galaxy was included in a scientific study for the first time by the Mexican astronomer in 1956.

It was first described by Haro Barraza in a study in which he made a list of 44 blue galaxies. The studies thanks to which it was described were carried out at the Tonantzintla observatory, in Mexico.

Blue stars

In 1961 he published a list in which he included 8,746 blue stars. This study was carried out by Guillermo Haro Barraza in conjunction with Willem Jacob Luyten, with whom he also studied planetary nebulae, at the Palomar observatory.

Other studies

Another of his great contributions as a researcher was the discovery of blazing stars in the Orion region, a work carried out in 1953 together with William Morgan. From then on that would be one of the passions of his life.

Haro Barraza also discovered a comet, a supernova, T Tauri stars and several novae.

Publications

Haro Barraza's research activity led him to write numerous texts, including books and other popular science articles. In addition, he worked for a time as a science reporter for the Mexican medium Excelsior.

Some of his most outstanding works are:

- Herbig's Nebulous Objects Near NGC 1999 (1952).

They also relied on his life to make the documentary entitled En el cielo y en la tierra (2013), produced by TVUNAM and Puebla Tv, which was directed by his son Felipe Haro and Gonzalo Juárez.

Legacy

Guillermo Haro Barraza left Mexico great contributions, not only with his research, but also with the training of new professionals in the area of ​​astronomy. He insisted on improving the level of education in that particular and he succeeded.

He also promoted the creation of important centers such as the National Institute of Optical and Electronic Astrophysics (INAOE) and several quality observatories that became a new step for Mexicans who wanted to dedicate themselves to the study of these sciences.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Guillermo Haro. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Poniatowska, E. (2013). The universe or nothing: Biography of the starlet Guillermo Haro. Barcelona: Seix Barral.
3. Hockey, T., Trimble, V. and Bracher, K. (2007). The biographical encyclopedia of astronomers. New York: Springer, pp. 471-472.
4. Our teachers. Vol. IV (1992). Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico: National Autonomous University of Mexico, pp. 71 - 72.
5. Bartolucci Incico, J. (2000). The modernization of science in Mexico. Mexico: Center for University Studies, National Autonomous University of Mexico.