2008 Grote Reber Medal Awarded to JPL's Dr. Dander Weinreb
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2008 Grote Reber Medal Awarded to Sander Weinreb
The 2008 Grote Reber Medal for lifetime innovative contributions to
radio astronomy has been awarded to Dr. Sander Weinreb of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology. Dr.
Weinreb is being honoured for his pioneering developments of novel
techniques and instrumentation over nearly half a century which have
helped to define modern radio astronomy.
"Sandy Weinreb's contributions to radio astronomy technology are to be
found throughout the radio observatories of the world and have set the
foundation for so many amazing astronomical discoveries", said Dr Ken
Kellermann of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the USA.
Weinreb received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1963. While he was
still a graduate student at MIT, he developed the world's first
digital autocorrelation spectrometer which he then used to place a new
upper limit to the Galactic deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio. With
Barrett, Meeks, and Henry, he detected the hydroxyl molecule (OH);
this was the first radio observation of an interstellar molecule. His
autocorrelation spectrometer technique is now in use at virtually
every major radio observatory throughout the world and has been
crucial in the subsequent explosive growth of interstellar molecular
spectroscopy.
In 1965 Weinreb went to the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory
(NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia where he became Head of the
Electronics Division and later Assistant Director of NRAO. During his
23 years at NRAO, he pioneered the use of low-noise, cryogenically
cooled solid state amplifiers which greatly enhanced the sensitivity
of radio telescopes. He was the architect for the electronic systems
design for the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico and led the
group which developed the novel receivers and the data transmission,
acquisition, and monitor and control systems for the VLA.
Subsequently, Weinreb worked firstly at Lockheed Martin Laboratories
and then at the University of Massachusetts where he developed various
millimetre wave devices. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the
University of Virginia. Most recently he has been a Faculty Associate
at Caltech and a Principal Scientist at JPL where he has continued his
work on low noise amplifier devices. He played a leading role in the
electronics design for a new Deep Space Network (DSN) space tracking
array, and he has been active in developing wideband feeds and front
ends as well as investigating cost effective designs for modest size
antennas, all of which will be important for the next generation of
radio telescopes such the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). In addition
he has been working with the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope
(GAVRT) program to develop a 34-metre radio telescope at Goldstone for
use with schools around the globe.
"For nearly five decades Sandy's innovative contributions to radio
astronomy have paved the way for an amazing array of new and exciting
discoveries about the nature and evolution of the Universe", said Dr
David Jauncey of the Australia Telescope National Facility in
Australia.
The 2008 Reber Medal will be presented to Dr Weinreb at the
International Radio Science Union (URSI) radio astronomy commission
meeting to be held on 13 August 2008 in Chicago. The Reber Medal was
established by the Trustees of the Grote Reber Foundation to honour
the achievements of Grote Reber, the world's first radio astronomer,
and is administered by the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston,
Tasmania in cooperation with NRAO, the University of Tasmania, and the
CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility.
Nominations for the 2008 Medal may be sent to Martin George, Queen
Victoria Museum, Wellington St, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia
or by e-mail to mar...@qvmag.tas.gov.au. Nominations are to be
received no later than November 15, 2008.
About Grote Reber
Grote Reber was born on 22 December 1911. Before he was 30 years of
age, he became the world's first radio astronomer. He opened up a
whole new window on the Universe through which astronomers can study
objects and processes quite different to those that produce ordinary
light. These include quasars and pulsars, and the detection of atoms
and molecules in the space between the stars.
Before the 1930s, astronomers could study the universe only in visible
light �ｾ the radiation that our eyes, and ordinary photographic film,
can detect. That changed in two major steps. In the early 1930s,
Karl Jansky investigated radio interference in transatlantic telephone
links and, in the process, discovered radio emissions from our Milky
Way Galaxy. It was Grote Reber, however, who decided that this was an
important new way of studying the Universe and decided to take some
action. He said, "I consulted with myself and decided to build a
dish!"
To this end, Reber, in 1937, constructed the world's first
purpose-built radio telescope. He built it adjacent to his home in
Wheaton, Illinois, just west of Chicago, and it was of the now
familiar 'dish' design. Reber's telescope was the forerunner of the
classic design of the world's famous radio telescopes (including the
famous 'dish' at Parkes, in Australia). The same principle is used
widely today in many other applications, including satellite dishes in
private homes.
Reber used his telescope, which had a diameter of 9.75 metres (32
feet), to map the sky at a frequency of 160 MHz, or a wavelength of
1.9 metres. This was the first detailed radio map of the sky which
showed the Milky Way and revealed for the first time the presence of
the Galactic Centre and the radio source known as Sagittarius A.
"His work was a huge step forward for astronomy", said Martin George,
Past President of the International Planetarium Society and
Adminstrator of the Grote Reber Medal. "For the first time, the
Universe was being studied at wavelengths other than those visible to
our eyes", he added.
After leaving Wheaton in the early 1950s, Reber conducted radio
astronomy experiments at the summit of Mount Haleakala, where he was
the first astronomer to build a high-altitude observatory in Hawaii.
Then, in 1954, he moved to Tasmania, Australia, where he began
observing at much longer wavelengths using a quite different type of
'telescope': an array of dipoles, which took the form of antennas
strung between the tops of poles.
North of his home in Bothwell, in southern central Tasmania, Reber
constructed such an array which was supported 20 metres above the
ground and operated at a frequency of 2 MHz, a wavelength of 144
metres. This very low frequency radio telescope covered an area of one
square kilometre. It was, and still is, the world's largest single
radio telescope in terms of collecting area. In the 1960s, he mapped
the southern sky with this telescope.
Reber involved himself in many other scientific pursuits. Among his
activities, he built an energy-efficient house in Bothwell; he was
fascinated by plants, and in particular the direction in which beans
entwined themselves around poles; and he was particularly keen on
studying energy-efficient transport, being very proud of his electric
car called Pixie.
Reber was well known for his independent thoughts and activities.
"He had no patience for negotiation or compromise, and was forcefully
direct in choosing his words. One always knew what he was thinking
about and what he wanted. Grote Reber believed in himself!" said Dr
Ken Kellermann.
Reber's views on various topics, especially his opposition to the
widely accepted Big Bang Theory of the origin of the Universe. "Grote
and I would often chat about his ideas", recalls Martin George. "He
was often heard to say that The Big Bang is Bunk!".
Although Reber's research and ideas often fell outside the mainstream
activities of other astronomers, his contributions, especially in the
early days of radio astronomy, were both pioneering and critically
important. He was awarded a number of prizes, and an honorary Doctor
of Science Degree from Ohio State University in the USA.
Grote Reber died in Tasmania on 20 December 2002, two days before his
91st birthday.
Images associated with this release are available at
www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/reber.html
They may be used freely provided that the appropriate credit is used.
For more information including higher resolution versions of images
please contact
Martin George (Administrator, Grote Reber Medal)
Past President, International Planetarium Society
Queen Victoria Museum
Wellington Street
Launceston, Tasmania
mar...@qvmag.tas.gov.au
Tel: +61-3-63233777
Mob: +61-437-688824