Aden Meinel
Aden Baker Meinel (born November 25, 1922 in Pasadena , California , † October 3, 2011 in Nevada ) was an American astronomer who is particularly known for his role in the design and construction of large telescopes and observation instruments.
Life
Aden Meinel was the son of German immigrant John Meinel and Gertrude Meinel and had two brothers. In 1944 Aden Meinel married the scientist Marjorie Meinel († June 24, 2002), the daughter of Edison Pettit . The marriage had seven children, including Carolyn P. Meinel.
Meinel studied at Caltech (BA 1943, MA 1944) and gained knowledge of optics in the optics workshop of the Mount Wilson Observatory . During the Second World War he was a soldier in Europe. He obtained his doctorate in 1949 from the University of California, Berkeley with the construction of a spectrograph and a work based on it on the subject of a spectrographic study of the night sky and the northern lights in the near infrared , in the process he discovered the bands of the hydroxyl radical in the night sky spectrum named after him . Until 1956 he was an associate professor and associate professor at the University of Chicago and deputy director of the Yerkes Observatory and McDonald Observatory . In 1959 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
Meinel was involved in the selection and development of the Kitt Peak National Observatory and was its first director until 1961. He was then director of the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona and in 1964 founded the Center for Optical Sciences there. The construction of the innovative Multiple Mirror Telescope also fell during this time . In addition to his astronomical projects, he also developed sensor systems for ground-based and space-based surveillance tasks for the US Air Force .
In the 1980s he went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and worked with his wife on concepts for new space telescopes, and in 1993 they both retired there. Another area of interest for both Meinels was solar energy .
Awards
- 1954: Helen B. Warner Prize
- 1980: Frederic Ives Medal
- 1990: George van Biesbrock Prize
- the asteroid (4065) Meinel is named after him
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Astronomy pioneer Meinel dies at 88
- ^ "In memoriam: Marjorie Meinel" , SPI, accessed on October 5, 2011
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meinel, Aden |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Meinel, Aden Baker (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 25, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pasadena , California |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 3, 2011 |
| Place of death | Nevada |