George O. Abell, born March 1, 1927, was a
professor of
astronomy at the
University of California.
He was well known for his abilities to do
research as well as to teach and to popularize
his science. He also worked as a lecturer
at the Griffith
Planetarium while working
on his
doctorate.
He is best known for his very comprehensive
galaxy cluster
catalogue, created during the 1950s.
In 1966 he also published a catalogue of
86 (later corrected to 82) new
planetary nebulae, most of which are
very dim. The visual magnitudes range from
11.3 to over 20.0, making them very
difficult to observe without a medium
to large telescope.
In 1975 Abell and Harold Corwin
picked up on the galaxy cluster cataloging,
and began
a survey of the southern hemisphere,
which was completed by Corwin and
Ronald Olowin in 1987, after Abell's
unfortunate death in 1983.