 In 1957, he discovered the Wilson-Bappu effect jointly with American astronomer Olin Chaddock Wilson.Vainu Bappu was born into a Thiyya family on 10 August 1927, in Chennai, as the only child of Manali Kukuzhi Bappu and Kallat Sunanna Bappu.His family originally hails from Thalassery in Kerala.