ngc3314
30-August-2004, 09:27 PM
Thus just in, from the Center for Astrophysics:
Professor Fred Whipple died today, a few months shy of his 98th birthday. He had worked at the Harvard College Observatory since 1931 and from 1955 to 1973 directed the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory here. He was most famous for his theory of comets as "dirty snowballs". He had foreseen the artificuial satellite era and was prepared with a wolrdwide tracking network, Moonwatch, when Sputnik was launched on 4 October 1957. Fred initiated SAO's ground-based observatory on Mt. Hopkins in Arizona and was instrumental in the design and construction of the Multiple-Mirror Telescope.
A memorial service for Fred will be announced in the fall.
Professor Fred Whipple died today, a few months shy of his 98th birthday. He had worked at the Harvard College Observatory since 1931 and from 1955 to 1973 directed the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory here. He was most famous for his theory of comets as "dirty snowballs". He had foreseen the artificuial satellite era and was prepared with a wolrdwide tracking network, Moonwatch, when Sputnik was launched on 4 October 1957. Fred initiated SAO's ground-based observatory on Mt. Hopkins in Arizona and was instrumental in the design and construction of the Multiple-Mirror Telescope.
A memorial service for Fred will be announced in the fall.