Reynold Kenneth Young

From WikiProjectMed
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Reynold Kenneth Young
Born(1886-10-04)October 4, 1886
Binbrook, Ontario
DiedFebruary 27, 1973(1973-02-27) (aged 86)
Resting placeRichmond Hill Presbyterian Cemetery[2]
EducationPh.D. in astronomy (1912)
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
University of California, Berkeley
Known forBinary stars, astrometric studies
Spouses
Wilhelmine Ellen Aitken
​
​
(m. 1912)​
  • Amy Gertrude Graham (1936–1973)
ChildrenMarjorie Jean Young (b. 1913)
John Young (b. 1915)
AwardsGold Medal, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (1909)[1]
Scientific career
InstitutionsDominion Observatory
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
David Dunlap Observatory
ThesisPolarization of the Light in the Solar Corona (1912)
Doctoral advisorWilliam Wallace Campbell

Reynold Kenneth Young (October 4, 1886 – February 27, 1973) was a Canadian astronomer. He served as first director of the David Dunlap Observatory from 1935 until 1946.

Biography

Young was born on October 4, 1886, in the town of Binbrook, Ontario, the son of Robert Young and Jean Bell. He studied at the Hamilton Collegiate Institute[1] (the city of Hamilton's first high school),[3] then in 1905 he matriculated to the University of Toronto. In 1909 he graduated with a B. A. degree in astronomy,[2] and was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for first class honors.[1]

With a fellowship for graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, Young spent three years as a Fellow at the Lick Observatory.[4][2] There he met his future wife, Wilhelmina Ellen Aitken, a fellow astronomer and the daughter of the observatory director, Robert G. Aitken.[2] Young collaborated with Wilhelmina on a study of the orbital elements of the comet C/1911 O1 in 1911.[5] In 1912, under his advisor William Wallace Campbell, Young was awarded a doctorate in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley with a thesis titled, Polarization of the light in the solar corona.[6] On June 17, 1912, Young was married to Wilhelmina. The couple would have two children before their marriage ended shortly after August 1917.[7]

After spending an unhappy year teaching at the University of Kansas[7] physics department, he became a researcher at the Dominion Observatory in 1913. There he published the orbital solutions for nine spectroscopic binaries and performed radial velocity studies of various stars.[2] During 1915, Young developed star charts that used gnomonic projection, which allowed observers to accurately plot the straight line path of a meteor trail.[8][9]

Following a productive three years, in August 1917 he joined the staff of John S. Plaskett as an astronomer at the recently founded Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO).[7] This was the site of a newly constructed 72-inch (180 cm) aperture telescope, then the second largest in the world.[2] Much of Young's work at the DAO was performing measurements of stellar parallax in collaboration with William E. Harper.[1] Over 1,100 parallax determinations were made.[4][10] Young used the large instrument to extend the nation's program of stellar spectroscopy to fainter stars of magnitude six or lower.[2]

R. K. Young inspects clock of the Dunlap Observatory

Young joined Clarence A. Chant on an expedition to observe the solar eclipse of September 21, 1922 from Wallal, Western Australia. Among their instruments was a camera intended to capture the deflection of starlight by the Sun's gravity. The results were "in harmony" with the predictions of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.[11][12] Young joined Chant at the astronomy department of the University of Toronto in 1924 as an associate professor.[13][4] During 1926–1928, he designed and constructed the mechanical and optical components for a 19-inch (48 cm) telescope, to be used by the university.[2][14]

Chant retired immediately following the opening ceremony of the David Dunlap Observatory on May 31, 1935, leaving Young to become the observatory's first director.[13] Young began a four-year study of stellar radial velocities,[15][16] while simultaneously assembling a photographic archive.[13] He served as chair of the University of Toronto astronomy department from 1935 to 1946.[17] In 1936, he was married to Amy Gertrude Graham, a mother of four children from a prior marriage.[2] Starting in 1940, much of the observatory staff left to serve in Canada's military effort during World War 2.[18] However, due to Young's efforts, the observatory remained in operation throughout the war. Following the conflict, Young retired as Professor Emeritus on January 1, 1946.[2]

Until 1964, Young lived in Richmond Hill with his wife, then the couple moved to Cobourg. His wife passed away on February 27, 1973. The following year, Young moved to Peterborough to be near his step-children. He died December 24, 1977.[2] His daughter Marjorie J. Vold née Young became an expert in colloid chemistry. She was named the Los Angeles Times woman of the year in 1966, and was awarded the Garvan-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society in 1967.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d RASC Gold Medal, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, retrieved April 11, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Millman, P. M., "Reynold Kenneth Young, 1886–1977", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 72 (4): 181–187, Bibcode:1978JRASC..72..181M, retrieved April 11, 2023.
  3. ^ "Education was a story of Progress and Quests", The Hamilton Spectator, June 22, 2017, retrieved April 11, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Notes and Queries", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 18: 280, July 1924, Bibcode:1924JRASC..18..280..
  5. ^ Young, R. K.; Aitken, W. E. (1911), "Bulletin Number 200 - Elements and ephemeris of Comet c 1911 (brooks)", Lick Observatory Bulletin, 6: 155, Bibcode:1911LicOB...6..155Y, doi:10.5479/ADS/bib/1911LicOB.6.155Y.
  6. ^ "Reynold Kenneth Young", AstroGen, American Astronomical Society, retrieved April 11, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Broughton, R. Peter (2018), Northern Star: J. S. Plaskett, University of Toronto Press, p. 175, ISBN 9781442630178.
  8. ^ Taibi, Richard (November 25, 2016), Charles Olivier and the Rise of Meteor Science, Springer International Publishing, p. 67, ISBN 9783319445182.
  9. ^ Young, Reynold K. (1915), "A meteor star atlas", Publications of the Dominion Observatory Ottawa, 2: 159–XX.2, Bibcode:1915PDO.....2..159Y.
  10. ^ Young, R. K.; Harper, W. E. (1924), "The Absolute Magnitudes and Parallaxes of 1105 Stars", Publications of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, 3: 3, Bibcode:1924PDAO....3....3Y.
  11. ^ Chant, C. A.; Young, R. K. (November 1923), "Evidence of the Bending of the Rays of Light on Passing the Sun, obtained by the Canadian Expedition to observe the Australian Eclipse", Publications of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, 2: 275–285, Bibcode:1923PDAO....2..275C.
  12. ^ Chant, C. A. (February 1923), "The Eclipse Camp at Wallal", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 17: 1–9, Bibcode:1923JRASC..17....1C.
  13. ^ a b c Russell, C. H. (February 1999), "The Legacy Continues: C. A. Chant and the David Dunlap Observatory", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 93 (1): 11–14, retrieved April 11, 2023.
  14. ^ Young, R. K. (January 1930), "The Building of a 19-inch Reflecting Telescope (With Plates II, III)", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 24: 17, Bibcode:1930JRASC..24...17Y.
  15. ^ Hearnshaw, John B. (March 17, 2014), The Analysis of Starlight: Two Centuries of Astronomical Spectroscopy, Cambridge University Press, p. 108, ISBN 9781107782914.
  16. ^ Young, R. K. (1939), "The radial velocities of 500 stars", Publications of the David Dunlap Observatory, 1: 69–123, Bibcode:1939PDDO....1...69Y.
  17. ^ Portraits of Past Chairs, University of Toronto, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, retrieved April 12, 2023.
  18. ^ Young, R. K. (February 1941), "Notes and Queries - The War and the D.D.O. Staff", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 35: 86, Bibcode:1941JRASC..35...86Y.
  19. ^ Vold, Robert (April 1, 1992), "Obituary. Marjorie Jean Vold, 1913-1991", Langmuir, 8 (4): 1234, doi:10.1021/la00040a600.
Retrieved from "https://mdwiki.org/wiki/Reynold_Kenneth_Young"