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Lyman Spitzer
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Lyman Strong Spitzer, Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) was an American theoretical physicist and astronomer best known for his research in star formation and for his promotions of telescopes in space and research into plasma physics.
zer was born in Toledo, Ohio. He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1931, received his BA in physics from Yale College in 1935, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1938, where he was advised by Henry Norris Russell.
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Encyclopedia
Lyman Strong Spitzer, Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) was an American theoretical physicist and astronomer best known for his research in star formation and for his promotions of telescopes in space and research into plasma physics.
Career
Spitzer was born in Toledo, Ohio. He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1931, received his BA in physics from Yale College in 1935, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1938, where he was advised by Henry Norris Russell. He is one of the key figures of 20th century physics, who helped lay down the fundamentals of the physics of plasmas and the astrophysics of the interstellar medium.
Spitzer went to Yale as an assistant professor of physics (1939-47); during World War II, he undertook underwater sound research, working with a team that led the development of sonar. In 1947 he became chairman of Princeton's astrophysical sciences department, succeeding Russell. He was also the director of Princeton's Observatory. Along with Martin Schwarzschild, he built the Princeton department from an undergraduate teaching emphasis to a major doctoral and postdoctoral research facility. He founded the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, focused on harnessing nuclear fusion as a clean source of energy; he remained the Laboratory's director until 1967, and was responsible for major funding from what is now the Department of Energy.
Spitzer pioneered the study of the interstellar medium; that is, the gas and dust between the stars from which new stars are formed. He looked at interstellar dust grains and magnetic fields as well as the motions of star clusters and their evolution. He identified regions of star formation and theorized that bright stars in spiral galaxies were recent formations. He predicted the existence of a hot galactic halo surrounding the Milky Way galaxy.
From 1946 onward was the driving force behind the Hubble Space Telescope. As the U.S. raced to the moon in the 1960s, Spitzer worked to tie in research components. In 1962, he led a project to design an observatory which would orbit the Earth and study the ultraviolet light from space, which is normally blocked by our atmosphere. This became NASA's successful Copernicus satellite which operated between 1972 and 1981.
In 1965, the National Academy of Sciences set out to define the scientific objectives for a proposed Large Space Telescope. Spitzer chaired the committee, and overcame the objections of astronomers who were concerned that the cost would reduce support for traditional observatories. Spitzer convinced astronomers, as well as Congress, of the payoffs from large telescopes in space. In 1968, NASA launched the highly successful Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. Finally, in 1975, NASA, along with the European Space Agency, began work on the Hubble Space Telescope. In 1976, NASA awarded Spitzer its Distinguished Public Service Medal for:
- "his pioneering efforts in rocket and high altitude balloon astronomy, his outstanding contributions to space astronomy as principal investigator on the highly successful Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, Copernicus, and his vision and leadership in articulating the advantages and benefits to be realized from the Space Telescope Program."
Finally in 1977 Congress listened and funded the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990. It was designed to be repairable by astronauts and its total cost by 2008 reached about $10 billion (in 2008 dollars).
Death
Spitzer passed away suddenly on March 31, 1997 after having completed a regular working day at Princeton University. He was survived by wife Doreen Canaday Spitzer, four children, and ten grandchildren.
Legacy
Project Matterhorn was RPI's pioneering program in controlled thermonuclear research. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission recommended (according to the declassified minutes of a meeting held on July 26, 1951) to grant him $50,000 to perform “research in the area in which Dr. Richter had claimed success.” See and article on the Huemul Project. Source: US DOE Archives, 326 US Atomic Energy Commission, Collection: AEC Meetings, Box: Minutes, Meeting No 582, 10:30 AM, Thursday, July 26, 1951.
The NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in 2003, is named after him. It studies the infrared sky from an Earth trailing orbit.
Honors
Awards
Named after him
External links
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