Leon Mestel

Leon Mestel (* August 5, 1927 in Melbourne ) is a British theoretical astrophysicist.

Mestel moved three years with his parents to London. He studied at the University of Cambridge ( Trinity College) with a bachelor 's degree in 1948 and his doctorate at Fred Hoyle, 1952 ( Some problems in stellar structure ). After that, he was at the University of Leeds and in 1954/55 as Commonwealth Fellow at Princeton University Observatory. 1955 to 1966 he was a lecturer at Cambridge, 1957-1966 Fellow of St. John 's College. 1967 to 1973 he was professor at the University of Manchester and then a professor at the University of Sussex. He retired in 1992.

It deals with stellar astrophysics (design, development and evolution of stars ), cosmic and stellar magnetic fields and magnetohydrodynamics in astrophysics.

In 1993 he received the Eddington Medal in 2002 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1952 he became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1977 and Fellow of the Royal Society.

His doctoral Donald Lynden - Bell belongs.

1961/62 he was at the Institute for Advanced Study and 1966/67, at the Weizmann Institute.

His son Jonathan Mestel ( born 1957 ) is a mathematician and chess grandmaster.

Writings

• Stellar Magnetism, Oxford University Press 1999, 2nd edition 2012