ABSTRACT:
Although extraterrestrial radio waves were discovered by Karl Jansky in 1933, they were first seriously studied by Grote Reber in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Reber recognized the non-thermal nature of the emission. However, it was not until the decade following World War II that it was recognized that these extraterrestrial radio emissions are a phenomenon of major importance; previously they had remained a curiosity judged by most physicists and astronomers to be of little scientific interest. The birth of radio astronomy represented the opening of a new window on the Universe very different from the view using optical radiation that had been always available. Attendant with the birth of this new field of science was great enthusiasm, astonishing discoveries, and bold speculations (some brilliant and some absurd). This initial period lasted into the 1960’s when radio astronomy matured into an accepted field of scientific research. The field was dominated by three major groups, one in Australia and two in England. I began observational work in the field immediately after my physics PhD in 1956. At that time the world’s radio astronomers were still only a small group of people who all knew each other very well. I will attempt to describe these early years and the pioneering radio astronomers who made the major discoveries that revolutionized our understanding of the energetic processes that dominate many important aspects of the Universe.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Professor Bill Erickson was educated at the University of Minnesota and received his PhD degree in 1956. Following appointments at St. Thomas College, Minnesota, the University of Minnesota, the Carnegie Institute and the Convair Corporation, he spent a year in Leiden as the leader of the group developing the Benelux Cross Radio Telescope. While at the University of Maryland from 1963 to 1988, Professor Erickson developed a succession of innovative low-frequency radio telescopes at Clark Lake in the Anza-Borrego Desert in California. More recently, he has been leading a group of his former students doing sub-arcminute resolution imaging at metre wavelengths. Professor Erickson received the inaugural Grote Reber medal for his innovative contributions to radio astronomy, especially for his many novel techniques which have been the forerunner of the new generation of metre-wavelength radio telescopes. Currently he operates his own private radio observatory on Bruny Island in
Tasmania.
Further information is available
from Dr Elizabeth Chelkowska, ph.
(03)6226-2725, e-mail: Elizabeth.Chelkowska-at-utas.edu.au
. Details appear on the web pages of the
AIP Tasmanian
Branch: http://tas.aip.org.au/
ALL WELCOME