Ernst K. Zinner | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1937-01-30)January 30, 1937 |
| Died | July 30, 2015(2015-07-30) (aged 78) Saint Louis, Missouri |
| Education | Vienna University of Technology Washington University in St. Louis |
| Occupation | Astrophysics |
| Spouse | Brigitte Wopenka |
| Children | 1 |
Ernst Kunibert Zinner (30 January 1937 – 30 July 2015) was an Austrianastrophysicist, known for his pioneering work in the analysis of stardust in the laboratory. He long had a position in the United States at the Laboratory for Space Physics (later part of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences) atWashington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he had earned his doctorate. He came to the United States in the 1960s for graduate work. In addition, Zinner regularly taught at European universities, and other American institutions.
Zinner was born on 30 January 1937 atSteyr,Austria,[1] a small town about 100 miles west ofVienna. Although his father, Kunibert Zinner, was a renowned sculptor, Ernst was more interested as a boy in nature and science.[1] Zinner's four younger siblings, and other relatives, live in Austria.
While on sabbatical later in his career, he met Brigitte Wopenka, a faculty member of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry inVienna. She returned with him to the United States and they married in 1980. They had a son.[2]
Zinner obtained an undergraduate degree in physics from theVienna University of Technology and started working. In the mid-1960s, he moved toSt. Louis, Missouri to attendWashington University in St. Louis for graduate studies. He earned his Ph.D. there in 1972 inhigh energy physics.[2]
That year he was invited byRobert M. Walker to work at the Laboratory for Space Physics (later part of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences) at Washington University.[2][3][4]
He also held positions at:
Zinner continued to work at the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences for the rest of his career, in 1989 being named as a Research Professor of Physics and Earth and Planetary Sciences. He retired early in 2015.[2][3]
Zinner was a member of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science, theAmerican Geophysical Union, andSigma Xi. He was also a fellow of theAmerican Physical Society, theMeteoritical Society, theGeochemical Society, and theEuropean Association of Geochemistry.[3]
Zinner hadmantle cell lymphoma for the last 19 years of his life. He died on 30 July 2015 at the age of 78.[2]
Zinner's PhD research was inhigh energy physics. He subsequently studied the effects that the environment within theSolar System would have on theMoon and the parent bodies ofmeteors, using nuclear particle tracks, micrometeoid craters, and elements in the solar wind. His later research was focused on the information contained in presolar grains carried by earlymeteorites. These grains were formed in atmospheres and explosions of stars outside of the Solar System. They can provide information about the history of stellarnucleosynthesis and the formation of the Solar System.[3]
Since 1974, Zinner's research has involved Ionmicroprobe analysis. He has worked with the Cameca IMS 3f instrument since 1982, and the Cameca NanoSIMS instrument since 2000.[3] He led theLong Duration Exposure Facility.[3] Zinner was instrumental in identifying, for the first time, material in meteorites that pre-dated the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.[5][6] Zinner and his colleagues found minute amounts ofstardust - diamond and silicon carbide - that originated outside the solar system.[7] Identification of these grains involved a measurement technique calledsecondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Zinner andGhislaine Crozaz expanded the use of SIMS to examine rare earth elements[8] and applied this new technique to measure rare earth elements in thin sections of rocks and minerals.[9][10]
After his death, his family established an "Ernst Zinner Scholarship Fund" to support advancedcello students in the Community Music School atWebster University. Zinner had started learning cello at age 55, along with his son, then age 4.[2]
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