Fred Lawrence Whipple

Fred Lawrence Whipple (November 5, 1906–August 30, 2004) was an American astronomer.

Related Topics:
November 5 - 1906 - August 30 - 2004 - Astronomer

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He is best known for writing an influential paper in Astrophysical Journal in 1950 http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/ApJ../0111//0000375.000.html, in which he proposed the now-confirmed "dirty snowball" theory of comet composition (although he originally used the term "icy conglomerate").

Related Topics:
1950 - Comet

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Fred Lawrence Whipple, the son of a farmer, was born November 5, 1906, in Red Oak, Iowa. An early bout with polio ended his ambition of being a professional tennis player. Whipple studied at Occidental College in southern California, then majored in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Related Topics:
November 5 - Red Oak, Iowa - Polio - Tennis - Occidental College - California - University of California at Los Angeles

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A class in astronomy turned him in that direction, and he received a doctorate in that subject in 1931 from the University of California at Berkeley. While in graduate school, he helped map the orbit of the newly discovered planet Pluto.

Related Topics:
University of California at Berkeley - Pluto

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He joined Harvard College Observatory in 1931 and studied the trajectories of meteors, confirming that they originated within the solar system rather than from interstellar space.

Related Topics:
Harvard College Observatory - 1931 - Solar system

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In 1933, he discovered the periodic comet 36P/Whipple and the asteroid 1252 Celestia. He also discovered or co-discovered five other non-periodic comets, the first of which was C/1932 P1 Peltier-Whipple, independently discovered by the famed amateur astronomer Leslie Peltier.

Related Topics:
Comet - 36P/Whipple - Asteroid - 1252 Celestia - C/1932 P1 - Leslie Peltier

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During World War II, he invented a device for cutting tinfoil into chaff to confuse enemy radar tracking Allied aircraft. He was awarded a Certificate of Merit for this in 1948.

Related Topics:
World War II - Chaff - Radar - 1948

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He also invented a "meteor bumper" or "Whipple shield", which protects spacecraft from impact by small particles by vaporizing them.

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In 1955 he became director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), remaining in this post until 1973.

Related Topics:
1955 - Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory - 1973

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He anticipated the era of artificial satellites and organized the "Moonwatch" group to track them. His group was the only one prepared and ready to make observations when the Soviet Union unexpectedly launched Sputnik I in 1957.

Related Topics:
Artificial satellite - Sputnik I - 1957

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Whipple passed away in 2004, aged 97.

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