Loyal Blaine Aldrich
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Loyal Blaine Aldrich | |
|---|---|
 Aldrich in 1927 | |
| Born | November 20, 1884 |
| Died | February 11, 1965 (aged 80) |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astrophysics |
Loyal Blaine Aldrich (November 20, 1884 – February 11, 1965) was an American astrophysicist and astronomer of the Smithsonian Institution. Upon graduation from the University of Wisconsin in 1907, Aldrich became a Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory assistant to Charles Greeley Abbot. The observatory conducted astrophysical research on solar radiation and the amount of energy from the Sun that strikes the outer edge of the Earth's atmosphere. Abbot became director of the observatory in 1907 and established solar observing stations in the United States, South America, and Africa to carry out research on solar radiation.[1] Aldrich became director of the observatory from 1942 to 1955.[2] Harvard University astronomy department chairman Fred Lawrence Whipple became director of the observatory when Aldrich retired.[1]
Aldrich married Elizabeth Stanley (born October 9, 1896). Their son, Stanley Loyal Aldrich, assisted his father operating the observing station in the Chilean Andes until returning to the United States in 1957 so his daughters might receive education at Windham, Maine, where he taught high school mathematics.[3]
