X-ray astronomy

In this interview, David Zierler, Oral Historian for AIP, interviews Laurence Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Physics at UC San Diego and former director of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences. He describes his childhood in rural Wisconsin and his early interests in electricity. He describes his undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and how he got involved in cosmic ray balloon research. Peterson discusses his formative relationship with John Winckler, how he developed his graduate interests in auroral X-rays, and he explains his decision to join the faculty at UC San Diego. He explains his ongoing research in detecting cosmic X-rays, and the challenges he faced in creating the High-Energy astronomy group there. Peterson discusses his long-range collaboration and advisory work with NASA and what it was like to be involved in these efforts in the heyday of the Space Race. He discusses his work studying Gamma Ray lines and he surveys the achievements of the OSO-1, OSO-3, and OSO-7 endeavors. Peterson describes the work done by NASA’s High Energy Astronomical Observatories project, and at the end of the interview, he reflects on some of the most important things he has learned over the course of his career in X-ray astronomy, and how lucky he feels that his career began right at the dawn of the Space Age.

Interview with Tsuneyoshi (Tune) Kamae, Professor Emeritus, both of the University of Tokyo, Department of Physics and of SLAC. Kamae discusses his current work configuring digital devices on science education for the visually impaired, and he recounts his childhood in Himeji and then Osaka, Japan and his early memories of World War II. He describes his undergraduate education at Kyoto University and his developing interest in physics and the opportunity that led to his acceptance at Princeton to work with Val Fitch on the root cause of CP violation. Kamae describes his postdoctoral work at KEK in Japan, where he studied the internal motion of the proton inside the nucleus, and he explains the circumstances that led him to LBL and then SLAC to work on the Time Projection Chamber. He discusses his involvement with the SSC planning and how he became involved in X-ray astronomy. Kamae discusses SLAC’s embrace of astrophysics under the leadership of Burt Richter, and he reflects on some of the cultural differences in physics environments in the United States and Japan. At the end of the interview Kamae shares his hopes for the future of the education program he is developing, and he discusses some of the strategic challenges Japan is facing in light of its demographic trends.

Italian-born physicist who was awarded one of the three Nobel Prizes for Physics in 2002 for his seminal discoveries of cosmic sources of X-rays, which helped lay the foundations for the field of X-ray astronomy.   Giacconi received a Ph.D. from the University of Milan in 1954. In 1959 he joined the research firm American Science and Engineering, and in 1973 he moved to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He later directed the Space Telescope Science Institute (1981-93) and the European Southern Observatory (1993-99).

Friedman, Chubb, Byram, and Kreplin were pioneers in X-ray space science, X-ray astronomy, and both founding and early and original members of the electron optics branch at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.  The interview focuses on their work at NRL.  They discuss their impressions upon coming to NRL, their training and how they were hired; what they were hired to do; and their work in the post-World War II era at the labatory.

Clark's involvement in founding of the discipline of non-solar x-ray astronomy. Factors, philosophical, theoretical and experimental, that led to the discovery of the first non-solar x-ray source in 1962. Relationship with colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and American Science and Engineering, Inc.; backgrounds of scientists who entered x-ray astronomy. Also prominently mentioned are: Martin Annis, Riccardo Giacconi, Nancy Grace Roman, Bruno Benedetto Rossi; American Science and Engineering, Inc., and Scorpio X-1 (Rocket).

Interview features Byram and Kreplin on instrumentation for rocket-launched astronomic research, c. 1948-1979, including:  development of early detectors and how they were used, including the BS-1, BS-212, and BS-3; development of a gas-grain ionization chamber; Solrad series detectors; solar radiation research; ionization chamber detectors; collimators; development of stellar ultraviolet detectors; discovery of  Scorpius X-1 and Crab Nebula X-ray sources; HEAO (High Energy Astronomy Observatory) detector; determining the aspect of a rocket; quality of computers used.

In this interview, E. T. Byram and T. A. Chubb discuss the Naval Research Laboratory's role in the history of x-ray astronomy. Topics discussed include: E. O. Hulburt; Ernie Krause; Richard Tousey; Herbert Friedman; Geiger counters; solar x-rays; Sam Lichtman; V-2 rockets; Viking rockets; Aerobee rockets; solar flares; Robert Kreplin; J. E. Kupperian; Julian Holmes; American Science and Engineering; P. C. Fisher.

In this interview, Geoffrey Burbidge discusses the history of physics over the course of his career.  Topics discussed include: Astronomical Society of the Pacific; E. Margaret Burbridge; American Astronomical Society; Hale Observatory; Lick Observatory; radio astronomy; Naval Research Laboratory; x-ray astronomy; Bruno Rossi; optical astronomy; Kitt Peak National Observatory; air and light pollution; Allan Sandage; Harvard University; Princeton University; Lord Kelvin; S. Chandrasekhar; Henry Norris Russell; Paul Merrill; Leo Goldberg; Edwin Hubble; Royal Society; Milton Humason; theory of relativity; Fred Hoyle; big bang cosmology; steady state cosmology; Joe Weber; John Wheeler; Willy Fowler.

After describing his upbringing and undergraduate education in physics at Renesselaer, Bleach (b. June 7, 1944) reviews his subsequent enrollment in the PhD program in physics at the University of Maryland. He then discusses his work at Goddard while in the PhD program, including initially developing solid state detectors for cosmic ray experiments; moving to an X-ray astronomy group headed by Dr. Elihu Boldt; developing and testing proportional counters in balloons, rockets, and satellites; use of mechanical and modulation collimators in the counters; and interaction with other research groups. Bleach next describes his thesis on Cygnus X-1 and work at NRL after completing his PhD program, including initially building and conducting experiments with detectors for the gamma ray group under HERO, and subsequent move to the laboratory diagnostics area in which he still is involved.

In this interview, Horace Babcock discusses how the field of astrophysics has changed over the course of his career. Topics discussed include: research administration; Mount Wilson Observatory; Ira S. Bowen; National Science Foundation; California Institute of Technology; stellar evolution; photomultiplier tubes; Joel Stebbins; Albert E. Whitford; Gerald Kron; Allan Sandage; Martin Schwarzschild; spectrographs; radio astronomy; x-ray astronomy; galactic evolution; stellar material; Robert McMath; societies; American Astronomical Society; International Astronomical Union; Jan Oort; Theodore Dunham Jr.; Alexander Pogo.