​The Institute of Astronomy is sad to announce the loss of Professor Donald Lynden-Bell, who died peacefully at home on the 6th February.

Donald was a hugely respected contributor to the international astronomical community over many years. He was well known for his idea that galaxies contain super-massive black holes at their cores, which provide the principal source of energy to power a quasar.

Donald is a past president of the Royal Astronomical Society, winner of the 2008 Kavli Prize for Astrophysics and was the first Director of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. We shall all miss his intellectual brilliance, which was combined with an interest in everything we do, as well as his positive enthusiasm for life and astronomy.

The header image shows Prof Lynden-Bell (centre) receiving the inaugural Kavli Prize for Astrophysics in 2008, which was shared with Prof Maarten Schmidt (left).

(click on image to enlarge).

Portrait of Donald (credit Amanda Smith, IoA, Cambridge).