Marjorie Meinel | |
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| Born | Marjorie Steele Pettit (1922-05-13)May 13, 1922 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Died | June 24, 2008(2008-06-24) (aged 86) Henderson, Nevada, U.S. |
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| Children | 7, includingCarolyn Meinel andMary Newport |
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Marjorie Pettit Meinel (bornMarjorie Steele Pettit; May 13, 1922 – June 24, 2008) was an Americanastronomer and optical scientist. Her research focused on telescope design andoptics, the technological applications ofsolar energy, atmospheric phenomena including the optical effects of volcanic eruptions, and the study ofvariable stars.[1] For over 60 years she was the research collaborator and wife of fellow astronomerAden Meinel.
Marjorie Steele Pettit was born inPasadena, California May 13, 1922, to astronomersEdison Pettit andHannah Steele Pettit who were based at theMount Wilson Observatory.[2] Meinel's older sister, Helen, also became an astronomer. As a teenager, Meinel assisted her father in making the firsttime-lapse photography ofsolar prominence eruptions, using a movie camera and a quartz-polarisingmonochromator attached to the 6-inchAlvan Clarkrefracting telescope at their home.[3][4][5] As her mother's health declined Meinel increasingly assisted her father's research on the telescope at home and at the observatory.[6]
While atPasadena Junior College Marjorie met and began dating fellow pupil Aden Meinel, urging him to study astronomy.[5]
In 1941 she began studying astronomy at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and in 1942 transferred toPomona College inClaremont, California to be closer to family.[7] She also began teaching some classes at the university, including training airmen incelestial navigation.[8] For her masters research atClaremont Colleges she used the family telescope in 1943–1944 to study thevariablered giant RT Cygni.[9] Her thesis research was published by theAstronomical Society of the Pacific.[10] In 1944 she married Aden.[11] From 1944 to 1945 she worked as a research associate at theCalifornia Institute of Technology working onmilitary rockets.[12][13] She also worked in the editorial staff of theOffice of Scientific Research and Development preparing and editing reports, including reports for theManhattan Project.[14][15] She resigned when the war ended.[16]
In 1946 she moved with Aden toBerkeley, California, where he was to continue his studies. Later that year she gave birth to the first of seven children, the final child born in 1957.[17] While raising their children she was not employed, but remained scientifically active, collaborating in Aden's research, attending conferences, and editing their work.[18]
Meinel co-authored two papers during this period, both on the optical effects of volcanic eruptions on the atmosphere.[19] The Meinel's 1967 paper was the first to suggest that the optical effects on sunsets and sunlight in the years after a volcanic eruption are caused bysulphate aerosols, rather than volcanic dust.[15][20]
In 1949 the family relocated toYerkes Observatory inWisconsin, then in 1955 toPhoenix, Arizona while Aden established the newKitt Peak National Observatory, and then in 1961 toTucson where Aden began working at theUniversity of Arizona.[21]
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In 1970 Aden took asabbatical so the couple could spend their time exploring barriers to the uptake ofsolar energy technology.[22][23] In 1972, Meinel returned to academic employment, working as a research associate at theUniversity of Arizona Optical Sciences Centre, which Aden had founded in 1964.[13][24] The Meinels continued their solar research throughout the 1970s as part of a team at the university and experimented in developing prototypesolar collectors. The Meinels became prominent advocates ofsolar thermal energy nationally.[15] They were skeptical of the existing focus on small scale solutions, instead arguing for large-scale applications of solar technology by industry and government. They viewed the barriers as chiefly economic, rather than technical.[24] They believed that through large-scale applications the costs and barriers for small-scale applications would reduce and the technology would become more affordable for developing countries.[25] One idea they developed and promoted was the construction of a 5000-square mile farm ofparabolic solar collectors in the deserts ofArizona andNew Mexico to heat water to produce 1000-gigawatts of electricity usingsteam turbines.[26]
They also explored other alternative energy sources, such as cultivating thetumbleweedKali tragus as abiofuel.[27][28]
Together they wrote two books on the subject of solar energy,Power for the People (1971) and the textbookApplied Solar Energy (1976). Meinel was a member of the Arizona Solar Energy Commission and of the Solar Energy Panel of the U.S. CongressOffice of Technical Assessment.[3][29] However, by 1977 the Meinels had become despondent towards the prospects of solar energy, with Meinel telling Congress "reality has dawned as the magnitude of the economic barrier has become clear [...] solar energy is expensive and is undependable."[30] Solar energy research and development funding also began to dry up and the Meinels returned to focusing on astronomy.[31]
In 1983 Meinel co-authored with Aden the bookSunsets, Twilights, and Evening Stars on the variousoptical phenomena visible from sunset, including their observations of the optical effects of volcanic eruptions.[32][33]
In 1984 Meinel and Aden were recruited by theJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena to work on identifying thenext-generation space telescope project that was to follow on from theHubble Space Telescope (HST).[34] Their work at JPL focused on telescope design, including optical systems, theTAU mission, the Large Deployable Reflector project, and applications ofinterferometry.[35] Meinel and Aden served on the Hubble Independent Optical Review Panel advisingNASA on the state of the telescope's mirrors and suitable measures to counteract thespherical aberration ground into itsprimary mirror.[36][37][38]
In 1995 Meinel and Aden retired from JPL, though they continued to work for JPL as consultants, alongside researching and publishing papers on telescope design and costings.[39]
Meinel's health began to decline and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[5][40] In 2004 she published her final paper.[5][41] In 2006 the couple moved toHenderson, Nevada, where Meinel died June 24, 2008, from natural causes at the age of 86.[40] She was survived by Aden and their seven children.[3] Aden Meinel died in 2011.[40]
In 1980 theAmerican Physical Society selected Meinel as one of five outstanding "Women in Physics".[3][13] Meinel was cited on Aden'sFrederic Ives Medal (1980) and his George W. Goddard Award in Space and Airborne Optics (1984).[42] In 1992 she was elected as a fellow of theSociety of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).[43] In 1992 and again in 2000 Meinel and Aden were jointly awarded theSPIE Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Award in Optical Design.[44][45] In 1997 they were awarded theSPIE Gold Medal, the society's highest award.[45]
The 6 km (3.7 mi) wideasteroid4064 Marjorie was named in honour of Meinel.[46][47] The Meinel Building at theUniversity of Arizona College of Optical Sciences and the SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award are named after the Meinels.[11]
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