Paul Willard Merrill
Paul Willard Merrill (born August 15, 1887 in Minneapolis , Minnesota , † July 19, 1961 ) was an American astronomer.
Merrill earned his doctorate from the University of California in 1913. He spent most of his professional life at the Mount Wilson Observatory . This activity ended in 1952.
His specialty was spectroscopy . In doing so, he studied long-period variable stars and the interstellar medium in particular . Shortly before the end of his professional career, he managed to discover technetium in the variable star R Andromedae and other red variables. Since technetium does not have a permanent existence due to the isotopes, it must have only recently been produced in each of the discovered stars in which it is found. This enabled him to prove the S-process of nucleosynthesis .
Honors
Awards
- Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1929)
- Member of the American Philosophical Society (1939)
- Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (1945)
- Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1946)
- Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society (1955)
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1958)
Named after him
- Asteroid (11768) Merrill (2007)
- Merrill crater on the moon
Web links
- PW Merrill publications in the Astrophysics Data System
- Obituaries for PW Merrill in the Astrophysics Data System
- Short bio on the Bruce Medal page
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: Paul W. Merrill. American Philosophical Society, accessed October 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 61267
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Merrill, Paul Willard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 15, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Minneapolis , Minnesota |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 19, 1961 |