Frank J. Low

Frank James Low ( born November 23, 1933, Mobile, Alabama, † June 11, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona ) was an American physicist and astronomer.

Life

Low was born in Mobile, but grew up in Houston (Texas ). After receiving his Bachelor of Science from Yale University in 1955, he continued his studies at Rice University and earned continued there in 1957, first Master of Arts in 1959 and his Ph.D. in physics.

A milestone in astronomy was his invention of the " gallium-doped germanium bolometer " in 1961. This detector could perform sensitive observations in the field of infrared astronomy at wavelengths longer than before, which led to a widening of the observations in this field. He had done as an employee of Texas Instruments, which he soon left this discovery. The development of the bolometer and related instruments then he drove ahead at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. At the same time, he worked at Rice University, and from 1965 at the University of Arizona.

In 1967 he founded the company Infrared Laboratories, Inc., whose president he is. Originally founded to produce infrared detectors and cryostat, infrared microscopes are now the main product.

With a cooled by liquid helium Germaniumbolometer he undertook then first experiments with a small telescope on a Navy bomber, the later a 12- inch telescope on the Lear Jet Observatory followed. It was the birth of flying observatories. The Kuiper Airborne Observatory (1974-1995), and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite ( IRAS better known by the acronym ), 1983, were the next developments where low played an important role. Also on instrument development for the Spitzer Space Telescope, he was involved.

In 2006, he was Professor Emeritus at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona.

Works (selection)

  • Low, FJ, Rieke, GH, Gehrz, RD, "The Beginning of Modern Infrared Astronomy ", Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 45, 43-75 (2007)

Honors

In addition, the Kleinmann -Low Nebula, a sheathed in dust star-forming region in the Orion Nebula, named after him and Douglas E. Kleinmann.

Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy Rumford Prize American Academy of Arts and Sciences Astronomical Society of the Pacific
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