Horace Welcome Babcock
Horace Welcome Babcock (born September 13, 1912 in Pasadena , California , † August 29, 2003 in Santa Barbara , California) was an American astronomer .
life and work
Born in California, he studied at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and at the University of California, Berkeley . On the occasion of his doctoral thesis, he succeeded in determining the rotation curve of the Andromeda galaxy (M31).
He then worked at the Yerkes Observatory. During World War II , he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and CalTech. In 1946 he began his long-term activity at the Mt. Wilson Observatory. He worked closely with his father, Harold D. Babcock . Both were the first to detect strong magnetic fields from stars.
Horace Babcock built a large number of astronomical instruments, the most famous of which is probably the solar magnetograph. In addition, he developed important models for the so-called sunspots and their magnetism. His further developments included work that resulted in atmospheric turbulence no longer affecting the images taken by telescopes on Earth. This happened in 1953 and was the breakthrough for so-called adaptive optics .
From 1964 to 1978 he was director of the Mt. Wilson and Palomar observatory . During this time he also founded the Las Camapanas Observatory in Chile.
Awards
- In 1954, Babcock was elected to the National Academy of Sciences .
- In 1957 he received the Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.
- In 1958 he was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Association.
- In 1959 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
- In 1966 he became an elected member of the American Philosophical Society .
- In 1969 he was awarded the Bruce Medal .
- In 1970 he received the gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society .
- In 1992 he received the George Ellery Hale Prize from the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Association.
In 1989 the asteroid (3167) Babcock was named after him and his father. The lunar crater of the same name was only registered on his father.
Web links
- Publications by HW Babcock in the Astrophysics Data System
- Obituaries for HW Babcock in the Astrophysics Data System
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Babcock, Horace Welcome |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 13, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pasadena , California |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 29, 2003 |
| Place of death | Santa Barbara , California |