Rupert Wildt | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 25, 1905 |
| Died | January 9, 1976 (age 70) |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | University of Berlin |
| Awards | Eddington Medal(1966) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy |
Rupert Wildt (/ˈvɪlt/; June 25, 1905 – January 9, 1976) was an Americanastronomer.[1]
He was born inMunich,Germany, and grew up in that country duringWorld War I and its aftermath. In 1927 he was awarded aPh.D. from theUniversity of Berlin. He joined theUniversity of Göttingen, specializing in the properties ofatmospheres.
In 1932 he studied thespectra ofJupiter, and other outer planets, and identified certain absorption bands as belonging to thehydrogen-rich compounds ofmethane andammonia. The composition appeared consistent with a composition similar to thesun and other stars.
Assuming that the atmosphere was composed of these gases, during the 1940s and 1950s he constructed a model of the structure of these planets. He believed the core of the planets is solid and composed of a mixture of rock and metal, covered by a thick outer shell of ice, overlaid by a dense atmosphere. His model is still widely accepted.
In 1934 he emigrated to theUnited States, and became a research assistant atPrinceton University from 1937 until 1942. He then became an assistantprofessor at theUniversity of Virginia until 1947, before joining the faculty of theYale University.
In 1937 he proposed that the atmosphere ofVenus was composed of a mist offormaldehyde. His observations of the atmosphere did not find any water at the time, but later balloon-based measurements did show water in the atmosphere and so his proposal was abandoned. In 1940, however, he also hypothesized that thecarbon dioxide in the Venusian atmosphere trapped heat[citation needed], a phenomenon later called thegreenhouse effect.
In 1939 he demonstrated that the major source of optical opacity in the Sun's atmosphere is theH− ion, and thus the main source of visible light for the Sun and stars.
From 1965 until 1968 he was president of theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy. In the period 1966-1968 he also held the post of the chairman of the department of astronomy atYale, and from 1973 until his death he was professor emeritus. He died inOrleans, Massachusetts.
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