A retired University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomer whose research laid the foundation for much of what the world knows about the birth and early development of stars, died earlier this month at age 93.

Dr. George H. Herbig, regarded by many as the father of star formation studies, revolutionized the field by researching stars so young that they had formed after the earliest human ancestors walked the Earth, the UH Institute for Astronomy said.

Herbig dedicated most of his life to studying the sky and worked almost until the end of his life.

He joined the UH faculty in 1987 after working for nearly 40 years at the Lick Observatory, which is now part of the University of California-Santa Cruz, and became an astronomer emeritus at UH when he retired in 2001.

In 2009, the Institute for Astronomy’s director at the time, Rolf Kudritzki, told The Honolulu Advertiser, "It’s right to say that Dr. Herbig is in a class of his own," adding, "You rarely find an example of a scientist like this. George is somebody who everyone here has the deepest respect for."

Back then, Herbig was still stopping by the institute daily to stay up to date in his field, Kudritzki said. He later went on to publish two papers in 2012 at age 92.

Born in Wheeling, W.Va., the renowned scientist turned his eyes to the sky at an early age, according to biographical information written by Joseph S. Tenn of Sonoma State University.

As a high school student, he served as secretary of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and built and used his own 8-inch reflector.

Throughout his life, Herbig had several star formations named after him and earned numerous awards for his work, including the American Astronomical Society’s Warner Prize in 1955 and its Henry Norris Russell Lectureship in 1975, given for "a lifetime of eminence in astronomical research," and the 1980 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal awarded by Astronomical Society of the Pacific for "a lifetime of outstanding research in astronomy."

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