From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Sat Sep 06 2003 - 14:21:04 PDT
Horace W. Babcock, 90, Planner and Developer of Telescopes, Dies
September 5, 2003
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Horace W. Babcock, an innovative astronomer who helped
establish the Las Campanas Observatory in northern Chile
and developed technology to improve the telescope, died on
Aug. 29 in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 90.
In the early 1960's, while director of the Mount Wilson and
Mount Palomar Observatories in California, Dr. Babcock came
up with the idea to build an observatory in a remote part
of the world, where city lights would not obscure viewing
of the stars, planets and galaxies.
Though some other scientist criticized his plan and favored
improvements at the Wilson and Palomar Observatories, Dr.
Babcock prevailed, and Las Campanas Observatory was built
in the Chilean Andes in the early 1970's with financing
from the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Today, Las Campanas houses some of the world's most
powerful telescopes and provides outstanding access to the
Southern Hemisphere sky, including views of the heart of
the Milky Way galaxy.
"He made a monumental contribution to astronomy by creating
the Las Campanas Observatory," said Dr. George Preston, a
colleague of Dr. Babcock and former director of the
Carnegie Observatories. "And he did it in spite of heavy
criticism from people who thought the money should be spent
on other things."
In the early 1950's, after having trouble studying distant
stars and galaxies because their light blurred as it passed
through Earth's atmosphere, Dr. Babcock conceived a system
that could compensate for the distortion, a technique known
as adaptive optics.
But because of a lack of financing, the system was not
developed for 20 years, until the Department of Defense
decided to use the technology in conjunction with its
high-powered lasers. Today, it is built into most
telescopes as a standard feature.
Also in the 1950's, Dr. Babcock and his father, Harold, who
was at Mount Wilson as well, created the first solar
magnetograph for measuring the intensity, direction and
distribution of the Sun's magnetic field.
Later, Dr. Babcock invented a device to measure magnetic
fields in stars and created a "seeing monitor" to evaluate
mountaintops as potential homes for telescopes.
In 1969, he was recognized for lifetime achievement in his
field with the Bruce Medal, the highest honor given by the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Born in Pasadena, Calif., in 1912, Horace Welcome Babcock
earned his bachelor's degree at the California Institute of
Technology and his Ph.D. at the University of California.
He joined the staff of the Mount Wilson and Palomar
Observatories in 1946 and was their director from 1964 to
1978.
Dr. Babcock is survived by two sons, Ken, of Santa Barbara,
and Bruce, of Burbank, Calif.; a daughter, Ann Babcock of
Santa Barbara; and a granddaughter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/05/national/05BABC.html?ex=1063883092&ei=1&en=04bc58c1048932da
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.6 : Sat Sep 06 2003 - 14:31:50 PDT