Arthur Robert Hogg was born in Victoria in 1903. He studied at the University of Melbourne, and graduated with a Master of Science (Industrial Chemistry) in 1925. Hogg then started work at the Broken Hill Associated Smelters in Port Pirie, South Australia, and soon became Assistant Superintendent of Research.
Hogg joined the Commonwealth Solar Observatory (CSO) in 1929 and was one of the four original staff physicists under the directorship of W.G. Duffield. (W.B. Rimmer, C.W. Allen and A.J. Higgs were the other three physicists.) At the CSO, he undertook research into atmospheric electricity and cosmic rays, designing and building much of his own equipment.
Because of Hogg's expertise in measuring and counting atmospheric dusts, he was transferred to the Chemical Defence Section of the Munitions Supply Laboratories during the war, where he studied the effectiveness of respirators. In 1944, the Department was reorganised, and Hogg was made secretary to the Physical and Meteorological Sub-Committee, which also included R. v.d.R. Woolley.
In 1946, Hogg returned to the CSO, where the work undertaken had shifted from solar and geophysical work to stellar astronomy. At the age of 43, and as an expert in two different fields, Hogg became an astronomer.
Hogg was a quiet, well-liked man, who was prepared to work slowly and carefully. Woolley said of him:
Hogg is a better physicist than he gives himself credit for.(1)
Hogg remained at the CSO (which later changed name to Mount Stromlo Observatory) for the rest of his professional life. He worked on photoelectric photometry; helped establish the 74" telescope and related laboratory facilities; supervised extensive site testing around Australia for an observing station; and helped to choose the Sidings Spring site. Hogg also worked on the magellanic clouds and galactic clusters.
(1) S.C.B. Gascoigne (1968), 'Arthur Robert Hogg', RAAS, vol. 1, no. 3, November, p. 68.
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