Aden B. Meinel (November 25, 1922 – October 3, 2011) was an American

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

. He retired in 1993 as a distinguished scientist at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

. He also held the rank of professor emeritus at the

University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences The University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, considered the largest institute for optics education in the United States, is dedicated to research and education in optics with an emphasis on optical engineering. The college offers more ...

. His research interests have included upper

atmospheric physics Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, chem ...

, glass technology, optical design, instrumentation and space systems. Meinel received his Ph.D. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1949. His dissertation is titled ''A Spectrographic Study of the Night Sky and Aurora in the Near Infrared''. In 1954, he was awarded the

Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy The Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society to a young astronomer (aged less than 36, or within 8 years of the award of their PhD) for a significant contribution to observational or theoretical ...

by the American Astronomical Society. He was president of the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

in 1972 and was awarded th
Frederic Ives Medal
in 1980. He received the George Van Biesbroeck Prize in 1990.

Telescopes

During his career, Meinel was involved in the design and construction of several large

telescopes A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

, including: * telescope,

McDonald Observatory McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, with additional faci ...

* and telescopes,

Kitt Peak National Observatory The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) is a United States astronomical observatory located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono Oʼodham Nation, west-southwest of Tucson, Arizona. With more than ...

*Relocation of the telescope,

Steward Observatory Steward Observatory is the research arm of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona (UArizona). Its offices are located on the UArizona campus in Tucson, Arizona (US). Established in 1916, the first telescope and building were f ...

* telescope, Steward Observatory * telescope,

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farma ...

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern In ...

* equivalent

Multiple Mirror Telescope The MMT Observatory (MMTO) is an astronomical observatory on the site of Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (IAU observatory code 696). The Whipple observatory complex is located on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, US (55 km south of Tucson) in the S ...

* telescope,

National Central University National Central University (NCU, ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Kwet-li̍p Chung-yong Thài-ho̍k'', Wade–Giles: ''Kuo2 Li4 Chung Yang Ta4 Hsüeh2'' or ''中大'', ''Chung-ta'') is a public research university with long-standing traditions based in Taiw ...

, Chung-Li,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, Republic of China

Publications

Aden Meinel's publications include: *''The Near-Infrared Spectrum of the Night Sky and Aurora'', Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 60, No. 357, p. 373 *''On the Spectrum of Lightning in the Venus Atmosphere'', Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 74, No. 439, p. 329 *''Automatic Optical Designing for Astronomy'', Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 77, No. 455, p. 136 *''Catalog of Emission Lines in Astrophysical Objects'', Optical Sciences Center Technical Report 27, June 1968, 195 pp. *''Power for the People'', McDonnell-Douglas Corporation, 1971, 280 pp.
LOC# TJ810.M44
*''Applied Solar Energy: An Introduction'', Addison-Wesley, 1976, 650 pp. *''Sunsets, Twilights, and Evenings Skies'', Cambridge University Press, 1983, 163 pp. *''Telescope Structures - An Evolutionary Overview'', Structural mechanics of optical systems II; Proceedings of the Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, Jan. 13-15, 1987, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers
Aden B. Meinel publications

Honors

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050205003239/http://spie.org/Conferences/Calls/02/kp/schedule.html SPIE Meinel Commemorative Technical Conference Sept. 22, 2003* Asteroid

4065 Meinel 4065 Meinel, provisional designation , is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten on photog ...

is named in his honor.

References

In Memoriam: Aden B. Meinel, 1922-2011, Optical Society of AmericaAden B. Meinel, American Astronomical Association

Dr. Aden B. Meinel, 1922-2011, National Optical Astronomy Observatory
*
In Memoriam: Aden Meinel, founder of Kitt Peak National Observatory, SPIE

Obituary: Aden Baker Meinel, Physics Today 65, 5, 66 (2012)

The Meinel Partnership and the Founding of the National Observatory

Aden Meinel's Wartime Experiences: How Luck and Schmidt Plates Changed the Course of History. Optics Luminaries

Extremely Large Sparse Aperature Telescopes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meinel, Aden B. American astronomers 2011 deaths 1922 births Presidents of the Optical Society University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Arizona faculty

Telescopes

Publications

Honors

See also

References