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 on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. 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 centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

. He also held the rank of professor emeritus at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences. 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, rad ...

, 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, in 1949. His dissertation is titled ''A Spectrographic Study of the Night Sky and Aurora in the Near Infrared''. In 1944 he married astronomer Marjorie Steele Pettit who became his research partner. They had seven children together. He received the Optical Society's Adolph Lomb Medal in 1952. In 1954, he was awarded the Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy by the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

. He was a Fellow and president of the

Optical Society of America Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...

in 1972, and was awarded the Frederic Ives Medal in 1980. He received the

George Van Biesbroeck Prize The George Van Biesbroeck Prize is an award for long-term achievements in the field of astronomy. According to the American Astronomical Society awards website; "The Van Biesbroeck prize is normally awarded every two years and honors a living indi ...

in 1990. In 2022 a biography of Meinel and Marjorie was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, titled ''With Stars in Their Eyes: The Extraordinary Lives and Enduring Genius of Aden and Marjorie Meinel''.

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 (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

, including: * telescope, McDonald Observatory * and telescopes,

Kitt Peak National Observatory The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) is a United States astronomy, 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 ...

*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 ...

* 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, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

* equivalent Multiple Mirror Telescope * telescope, National Central University, Chung-Li,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

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 An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

4065 Meinel 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. 20th-century American astronomers 2011 deaths 1922 births Presidents of Optica (society) University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Arizona faculty

Telescopes

Publications

Honors

See also

References