Fred Whipple

1. Fred Whipple

2. Whipple was born November 5, 1906 in Red Oak, Iowa He majored in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles Then he went on to get his PhD in Astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley Whipple has said that his mathematics background helped him become interested in physics and eventually Astronomy

3. Joined Harvard College Observatory in 1931 • Studied the paths of meteors • Concluded that they originated in the solar system instead of interstellar space • Discovered the periodic comet: 36P/Whipple • Discovered the asteroid : 1252 Celestia

4. During WW11, Whipple invented a device to confuse enemy radar tracking allied plans • His device broke up lumps of tinfoil into fragments called chaff • The allied planes would then release the chaff to confuse enemy radar

5. 1950-1977 Whipple was a professor of Astronomy at Harvard University • Wrote a series of papers called the A comet Model in the Astrophysical Journal • The “icy conglomerate” hypothesis of comet composition, later called the “dirty snowball” hypothesis • His hypothesis was confirmed however research is still underway today about exactly how much ice is in a comet. The “icy dirtball” hypothesis

6. Whipple also believed that there would be artificial satellites • He organized a group called Operation Moonwatch • They were the only ones prepared when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik • 1957, Whipple became director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Obsesrvatory • Invented the “meteor bumper” to protect spacecrafts

7. Whiple died in 2004 • He was the oldest living American astronomer • Whipple was one of the most important astronomers of the 20th century • His “icy conglomerate” papers are the most cited papers in the last 50 years in the Astrophysical Journal http://www.universetoday.com