Bengt Elis Westerlund (January 17, 1921 - June 4, 2008)[1][2] was a Swedish astronomer who specialised in observational astronomy.
[2] In 1957 he was appointed astronomer at the Uppsala Southern Station at Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia, where he made extensive studies of the southern Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds.
[1] In 1967 he took a position as astronomer at Steward Observatory in Arizona and in 1969 was appointed Director of ESO in Chile, a position he held until 1975, when he returned to Sweden to become Professor of Astronomy at Uppsala Astronomical Observatory, retiring in 1987.
[2] His work on the structure of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds was held in high regard.
[2] He was regarded as an expert on the Magellanic Clouds[1] and wrote a book on them (The Magellanic Clouds, Cambridge University Press, 1997 ISBN 0521480701).