Frank J. Low
Frank J. Low | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frank James Low December 23, 1933 Mobile, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | June 11, 2009 (aged 75) Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Rice University Yale University |
| Known for | Infrared Astronomy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics and astronomy |
| Thesis | Adiabatic fast passage measurements of the nuclear magnetism in liquid helium (1959) |
| Doctoral advisor | Harold E. Rorschach Jr. |
| Website | infraredlaboratories |
Frank James Low (November 23, 1933 – June 11, 2009) was a solid state physicist who became a leader in the new field of infrared astronomy, after inventing the gallium doped germanium bolometer in 1961. This detector extended the range of the observable spectrum to much longer wavelengths.
Early life and education
Born on November 23, 1933, in Mobile, Alabama, Low grew up as a child in Houston, Texas. His undergraduate studies in physics were at Yale University and he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics from Rice University in 1959.[1]
Infrared astronomy
He started working at Texas Instruments in 1961, where one of his early projects was the development of a low-temperature thermometer that was developed using a germanium semiconductor that had been doped with small quantities of gallium, which measured changes in temperature based on the change in the device's electrical resistance as energy was absorbed. Based on his academic experiences, he came to the conclusion that the technology behind this thermometer could be integrated as the basis for a bolometer that could be used to measure the radiant energy coming from stars as infrared radiation, waves that occupy a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum whose wavelength is longer than for visible light (400–700 nm), but shorter than those of terahertz radiation (100 µm – 1 mm) or microwaves.[1]
Astronomers had been trying to find measures to detect infrared radiation for years, and Low went to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, in 1962 to test his bolometer, more sensitive to infrared than detectors previously in use on the Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope. However, infrared waves are absorbed by molecules such as water vapor in the atmosphere.[1]
To avoid atmospheric absorption of infrared radiation, Low developed devices that could be placed aboard aircraft, first using a
He had worked at Rice University and at the University of Arizona. He was also the president of Infrared Laboratories, Inc., which he founded in 1967 to make infrared detectors and cryostats for observatories and infrared microscopes as well.
He proposed and joined the international project to build the
Low was named to serve as facility scientist for NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility, later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope. The effort had been delayed by cost overruns, until Low had an inspiration at a 1993 retreat for the project's scientists; the passive cooling technique could be used – rather than place the entire telescope in a bath of liquid helium to cool the unit to temperatures near absolute zero, the unit could be exposed to the vacuum of space to radiate most of its heat while the detectors themselves were the only components cooled using liquid helium, a design change that allowed the Spitzer project to go ahead towards its launch in 2003.[1][3] Timothy Hawarden has been recognized by NASA for the development of the passive cooling technique,[4] which has also been included in other space probes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, a partial successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, that will search for the oldest objects in the universe.
Personal
Low died at age 75 on June 11, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona, after a long illness. He was survived by his wife, three children and six grandchildren.[1]
Honors
Awards
- Rumford Prize (1986)
- Helen Warner Prize (1968)
- Joseph Weber Award (2003)
- Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory(2006)
- Bruce Medal (2006)
Named after him
- Kleinmann–Low Nebula (with Douglas E. Kleinmann)
- 12142 Franklow
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Overbye, Dennis (June 20, 2009), "Frank J. Low, Who Helped Drive Field of Infrared Astronomy, Dies at 75", The New York Times
- ^ via Associated Press. "Hot but dim galaxy offers mystery", The Spokesman-Review, June 11, 1984. Accessed June 21, 2009.
- ^ Kwok, Johnnie. "Finding a Way: The Spitzer Space Telescope Story" Archived 2013-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, ASK magazine, Fall 2006. Accessed April 26, 2013. "The rabbit took the form of a warm launch concept proposed by Frank Low in late 1993. In traditional infrared telescope missions, the telescope and its instruments are housed inside a thermal bottle, the cryostat. Liquid helium fills the insulating walls of the cryostat, and the telescope and instruments are already cooled at launch. Frank proposed to let the coldness of deep space encountered in the solar orbit help cool the telescope and put only the instruments in the cryostat."
- ^ "NASA Awards the Late Dr. Timothy Hawarden for Contribution to Webb Telescope", Goddard Space Flight Center, July 15, 2010. Accessed April 26, 2013. "Hawarden's breakthrough idea was to do away with the traditional method of cooling space telescopes using huge tanks of cryogenic coolants, such as liquid helium, and instead use a combination of sun shields and radiators to allow space telescopes to lose heat passively; the heat would simply radiate away into cold space."
External links
