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Nicholas U. Mayall

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Nicholas U. Mayall
Upper body of a serious and dignified man in his fifties, with graying hair combed back and in a dress jacket with white shirt and a bolo tie and with his hands coupled together on top of some books.
Born(1906-05-09)May 9, 1906
Moline, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJanuary 5, 1993(1993-01-05) (aged 86)
Tucson, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsMount Wilson Observatory
Lick Observatory
Kitt Peak National Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Nicholas Ulrich Mayall (May 9, 1906 – January 5, 1993) was an American observational astronomer. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, he spent a couple of years as an assistant at the Mount Wilson Observatory, before returning to Berkeley to receive his doctorate.

Nicholas began his career at the Lick Observatory, where he remained until 1960 – except for a brief leave to MIT's Radiation Laboratory to help the war effort during World War II. While at Lick, he added to the knowledge of nebulae, supernovae, spiral galaxy internal motions, the redshifts of galaxies, and the origin, age, and size of the universe.[1][2] He was a key player in both the planning and construction of what was to become Lick's 120-inch (3.0 m) telescope which represented a major improvement over Lick's prior 36-inch (0.91 m) telescope upon which Nicholas became quite proficient in stretching its utility in the face of much larger telescopes elsewhere.

After Lick, Nicholas spent 11 years as director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory where he shepherded it and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory into top research observatories, with premiere telescopes, before retiring in 1971.[1]

Early life

His father was Edwin L. Mayall, Sr., an engineer for a manufacturing company in Illinois. His mother was Olive Ulrich Mayall, who, although never attending college, set high educational standards for their two sons, Nicholas and his younger brother Edwin, Jr. Sometime in the period between his brother's birth in 1907 and 1913 when Nicholas entered first grade, the family moved to California's Modesto area. Sometime before 1917, they proceeded to Stockton where they remained (except for a brief return to Peoria, Illinois during 1918–1919) through 1924 and Nicholas' Stockton High School[3] graduation. During this period, presumably during his high school years, his parents got divorced.[1]

During his senior year, in the fall of 1923, Nicholas was secretary of the science club and set up the club's visit to the Lick Observatory. His father gave him use of their car, a Moline Knight, to transport the club members up the dirt and gravel winding mountain road leading to the observatory. This was his first visit to the observatory where he would be a student and spend many years of his career. After visiting, he read all the astronomy books available in the local libraries, although he did not at this time imagine making astronomy his profession.[1][3]

Education

Nicholas began college in the fall of 1924 at the University of California, Berkeley pursuing a degree in mining. He had an apartment with his mom on Durant Avenue. He worked at the school's library to earn money necessary for their needs. Nicholas generally did well in school and was eventually elected to both Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa. However, at mid-terms of his second year, he was getting poor grades in both mineralogy and chemistry laboratory. He met with the dean to discuss his grades and the dean was made aware that he was color-blind. This prohibited him from observing small color changes in bead and flame tests and also kept him from seeing small color changes in precipitations and titrations. His adviser directed him to change his major as he would not be able to graduate as a mining engineer with such a handicap.[1][3][3]

It was only at this point that Nicholas first decided to pursue astronomy after all. His mom recommended that he pursue whatever interested him the most and to do it well. He surveyed many professors in the astronomy department as to whether they enjoyed their work and whether they made a satisfactory wage and found that the answers were yes. Therefore, he transferred to the College of Letters and Science in order to major in astronomy. This did not set him back in his degree requirements because almost all of his first year studies had been in basic physical sciences and math. He discovered that he enjoyed astronomy a lot and proceeded to the graduate level and a career as a research scientist.[1][3]

After graduating in 1928,[3] he decided to continue at Berkeley as it had the best astronomy graduate program of the day. He took a hiatus from pursuing his advanced degree and went to work as a (human) computer from 1929–1931[3] at the Mount Wilson observatory where he assisted luminaries such as Edwin Hubble.[1] This led led to publishing papers with Seth Barnes Nicholson and others about Pluto shortly after its discovery on its mass[4] and orbit.[2][5][6][7][3]

Nicholas returned to Berkeley in 1931. His thesis topic, suggested by Hubble, was to count the number of galaxies per unit area on the sky, as a function of position, on direct plates taken with the Crossley reflector, at Lick. This supplemented the counts Hubble himself was making using the 60-inch (1.5 m) and 100-inch (2.5 m) telescopes at Mt. Wilson. He completed his thesis and got his Ph.D. degree in 1934.[1][3] Hubble complimented his work, however, significant results were never achieved (nor for Hubble either) due to the lack of accurate magnitude standards for the faint galaxies that were measured and by the then unrealized very strong tendency of galaxies to cluster.[1][7][3]

While working on his thesis, Nicholas had the idea to design and build a small fast spectrograph that was optimized for nebulae and galaxies.[3] This was to be used with the Crossley Reflector to make it competitive for at least some of the work that Milton L. Humason and Hubble were doing with the larger Mt. Wilson telescopes. Nicholas' thesis adviser, William Hammond Wright and Joseph Haines Moore, the then Lick head of the stellar spectroscopy program encouraged Nicholas to pursue the spectrograph.[3] It was built in the Lick Observatory shop.[3] When created, his spectrograph could not compete with the Wilson 100-inch (2.5 m) for stars or elliptical galaxies, which have condensed, relatively bright nuclei. However, his spectrograph was faster for extended, low-surface-brightness gaseous nebulae and irregular galaxies. This was accentuated in the ultraviolet because with Wright’s strong encouragement, Nicholas used quartz and ultraviolet transmitting optics. This was distinct from the Mt. Wilson spectrographs which utilized heavy glass lenses and prisms.[1][7]

Lick Observatory

A white one story building with tall thin windows and an alcove entrance, at the right far end, a white domed building that houses the south telescope is present.
The main Lick Observatory building and the South (large) Dome

While Nicholas hoped to join the Mount Wilson team, upon getting his doctoral, during the Great Depression, there were no openings. Instead he began his career at Lick. This was afforded by the number two janitor resigning and Nicholas being given a one year position as observing assistant with janitorial duties limited to maintaining the darkrooms and instrument rooms clean.[3] The following year, one of the senior astronomers joined the Berkeley department and his salary was split between Nicholas and another young astronomer, Arthur Bambridge Wyse.[3] On June 30, 1934 he married Kathleen (Kay) Boxall of Los Angeles.[3] They had met during his two years in Pasadena. They lived in a small apartment that was part of the little astronomy village where all the Lick astronomers lived on the Mount Hamilton summit.[1]

Using his spectrograph, Nicholas was the first to determine the radial velocities of many knots in the Crab Nebula.[6][7] Using his data and the previously published angular rate of expansion of the nebula, he was able to estimate its distance.[7] Consequently, he became the first person to recognize and demonstrate that the Crab nebula was the remnant of a supernova first observed and recorded in 1054, rather than a classical nova.[1]

While at the Lick Observatory, he collaborated on a 20-year project with astronomers at Mount Palomar and Mount Wilson on the Big Bang theory of the beginning of the universe. Together with Milton L. Humason and Allan R. Sandage he wrote a 1956 paper on research concluding that the age of the universe was 6 billion years old (three times the prior estimate, and three times larger than thought).[2][8]

World War II

Nicholas accepted a position at the MIT's[3] Radiation Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to work on radar development during World War II. Early in 1942, he began his work at Cambridge,[7] which was the only time in his adult life that he resided other than in California and Arizona. However, the climate of Boston was unlike the California weather he and his family were accustomed to and in the middle of 1943, he arranged a transfer to the Pasadena Mt. Wilson Observatory offices. Many wartime Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) projects related to optics, aerial gunnery, aerial photography, and bombing tactics were in progress. Unhappy with the management of his project and feeling like his talents were not being used well, he transferred again in February 1944 to Caltech[3] to work on big rocket development. There he became an expert on high-speed photography that was needed to analyze rocket trajectories. In the spring of 1945 he was transferred to a very secret atomic bomb project that required very-high-speed photography. He visited Los Alamos twice, once near the time of the Trinity test. By October 1, 1945, the war had ended and Nicholas had returned to astronomical research at Lick.[1]

120-inch (3.0 m) telescope

A very large telescope pointing straight up with a man standing underneath working on the many electronic components at the bottom.
The Lick 120-inch (3.0 m) telescope, with the dome open for maintenance

Nicholas was an important influence in determining the Lick Observatory's future during World War II. Ever since 1931 when he had returned to Lick and Berkley after serving two years as an assistant at Mount Wilson, he had felt strongly that Mount Hamilton required a larger telescope.[3] The astronomers at Lick were proud of their ability to achieve important results with Lick's small 36-inch (0.91 m) Crossley reflector. Its diminutive size first became apparent in 1908 when Mount Wilson's 60-inch (1.5 m) telescope saw first light. This was accentuated by the 72-inch (1.8 m) Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 1917 and Mount Wilson's even larger 100-inch (2.5 m) in 1919. Nicholas was adept at working with the small Crossley but understood that it could never really stand up to a telescope that collected nine times the amount of light. This was only going to get worse when the 200-inch (5.1 m) Palomar was completed. Nicholas and the other young faculty at Lick thought that the older Moore and Wright were too complacent with the small telescopes and should have tried harder to attain a larger reflector.[1]

Unbeknownst to Nicholas, Lick observatory director William H. Wright and the prior director, Robert G. Aitken, had both tried in secret to raise money for a larger reflector to replace the 36-inch (0.91 m) Crossley Reflector. They tried both private sources as well as trying to get Robert Gordon Sproul, the University of California President, to provide for one in the budget. Although trying multiple times, they continued to fail, primarily due to the Great Depression. However, in 1942, Sproul wanted Paul W. Merrill from Mt. Wilson to succeed Wright and he was turned down. Agitated by the refusal, Sproul changed his stance and told the regents that they had to figure out a way to raise money for a new telescope once the war ended. An about this time, Sproul promised or secretly appointed C. Donald Shane as director of Lick when the war ended.[1]

The plan for a large telescope was leaked once the war ended around September 1944 in the form of the University's budget proposals. Joseph H. Moore, interim wartime Lick director, and Wright imagined an 85-inch (2.2 m) or 90-inch (2.3 m) reflector based upon the funds proposed in the budget by Sproul. Nicholas and Gerald E. Kron sent a letter to Sproul as representing the younger Lick staff members requesting a meeting to discuss the kind of telescope to be built. They met with Sproul[3] in December 1944 in Sproul's Los Angeles office. Nicholas spoke of the key need for a telescope exceeding 90 inches (2.3 m).[3] At the Caltech optical shop, he had seen the nearly completed 120-inch (3.0 m) glass disk in Pasadena that was planned to test the 200-inch (5.1 m) Palomar mirror and argued to Sproul to have the Lick telescope use that size[3] mirror. Much to their surprise, Sproul agreed.[1][3]

Shane was chairman of a committee formed by Sproul in the beginning of 1945 to plan the new reflector. Other committee members included Nicholas, Moore, Walter S. Adams and Ira S. Bowen. Doing most of their work by letter, Nicholas began by convincing the others that 120 inches (3.0 m) was feasible. Nicholas helped to bridge the gap between the experienced team of telescope designers in Pasadena and Shane who was more experienced as a university administrator and professor. Adams and the executive officer of the 200-inch (5.1 m) project, John August Anderson, shared their experience, drawings, and plans with the Lick design committee. On March 6, 1945, with both Nicholas and Shane present, the committee decided upon the basic parameters of what would become the 120-inch (3.0 m) Lick telescope. On March 7, Nicholas joined Shane, Wright, and Moore (not present at the March 6th meeting) at Mt. Hamilton to choose the location upon which to build the reflector.[1]

Postwar Lick research

During the long period of building the 120-inch (3.0 m) telescope, Nicholas continued to use Lick's difficult 36-inch (0.91 m) Crossley Reflector and focused his efforts on utilizing his fast spectrograph, which was optimized for extended, low-surface-brightness clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. In 1946, he completed his pre-war begun effort to get integrated spectra of globular clusters and published the work. His paper was key in demonstrating that the system of Milky Way globular clusters shares only a little bit in the galactic rotation found in the flattened system of interstellar matter and young stars in our galaxy.[1][9]

Other research he performed included collaborating with Milton Humason to gather redshift values for all northern galaxies exceeding 13 visual magnitude. Nicholas handled the brighter ones on the Crossley while Humason tackled the dimmer ones using the Mount Wilson 100-inch (2.5 m). This work resulted in the 1956 paper we co-authored with Humason and Allan Sandage on the rate of expansion of the universe listing over 800 redshift values for galaxies measured between 1935 and 1955 at Lick, Wilson, and Palomar.[6][8][10]

At Lick he also studied galaxy motion, such as the rotational motion of the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies.[2][6] This work demonstrated the inner solid-body rotation and the outer Keplerian motion.[6] Gerry Kron marveled at the sensitivity of Mayall's eyes that could reach down to 17 visual magnitude using the 36-inch (0.91 m) telescope.[6] Sadly, his eyesight deteriorated in later life to the point that he could no longer read.[6]

The 120-inch (3.0 m) telescope became operational in the beginning of 1960 and Nicholas began using it,[3] however, he left Lick in September of that year.[1]

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Panoramic view of a mountain top with trees and some white domed telescope buildings and a road leading up to the top.
Overview of some of the telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory
Looking down from the sky at a series of buildings and a large domed telescope building that dwarfs the others. An access roud encircles the complex.
Aerial view of the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory

Nicholas moved on from the University of California (after more than 25 years[3] progressing from student to astronomer), to become the second director of Kitt Peak National Observatory. With financial support from the National Science Foundation, several universities formed a consortium: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). Its purpose was to create and run a research observatory for American astronomers. The first director was Aden B. Meinel. He determined its site to be near Tucson at the 7,000-foot (2,100 m) Kitt Peak mountain and oversaw the building of its 84-inch (2.1 m) reflector that was finished in the spring of 1960. However, the AURA board decided that Meinel was not suited for the job and chose Nicholas to replace him, even though he had no administrative experience,[1] although Nicholas had previously been appointed in 1958 as a consultant to AURA due to his experience planning the Lick 120-inch (3.0 m) telescope.[11] The board's president was Shane, who was representing the University of California, and he helped convince Nicholas to take the offer.[1][11][10]

Nicholas oversaw the building of the 4-metre (160 in) Kitt peak reflector[3] as director which was named in his honor. He was much more intimately involved in the expansion of the national observatory to the Southern hemisphere in what eventually became the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory.[3] The 4-metre (160 in) telescope there (identical to the Kitt peak one) was being built when he retired in 1971 and was completed in 1973.[1][10]

Retirement

In 1971, at the age of sixty-five, Nicholas retired.[1][10] His retirement was honored with a 1971 symposium.[6] During retirement, he continued participation in many organizations. This included the overview committee for Fermilab.[6] He was married to Kathleen Boxall[2] for 58 years.[6] They had two children, Bruce I. Mayall and Pamela Ann Mayall, who at the time of his death, lived in Mission Viejo, California and Snowflake, Arizona, respectively.[2][6]

Honors

Thousands of stars clustered ever closer together towards a central core where they co-mingle to form a solid white central area.
HST image of Mayall II, assembled from images in visible and near-infrared in July 1994

Awards

Named after him

Bibliography

See also

  • IC 10 – Mayall was first to suggest that it is extragalactic.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Donald E. Osterbrock (1996). "Nicholas Ulrich Mayall, May 9, 1906–January 5, 1993". Biographical Memoirs (PDF). Biographical Memoirs. Vol. 69. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. pp. 189–213. ISBN 0-309-05346-3. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bruce Lambert (January 11, 1993). "Nicholas U. Mayall, 86, Leader Of Studies on Nature of Universe" (New York ed.). The New York Times. p. B8.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Mayall, Nicholas Ulrich (1970). "Nicholas U. Mayall". In Stone, Irving (ed.). There was light: Autobiography of a university: Berkeley, 1868-1968. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. pp. 107–19.
  4. ^ Nicholson, Seth B.; Mayall, Nicholas U. (December 1930). "The Probable Value of the Mass of Pluto". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 42 (250): 350. doi:10.1086/124071.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. ^ Nicholson, Seth B.; Mayall, Nicholas U. (January 1931). "Positions, Orbit, and Mass of Pluto". Astrophysical Journal. 73: 1. doi:10.1086/143288.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Helmut A. Abt (March 1, 1993). "Nicholas U. Mayall (1906-1993) (1Mar93)".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ^ a b c d e f Osterbrock, Donald E.; Baade, Walter (2001). Walter Baade: a life in astrophysics. Princeton University Press. ISBN 069104936X.
  8. ^ a b Humason, Milton L.; Mayall, Nicholas U.; Sandage, Allan R. (1956). "Redshifts and magnitudes of extragalactic nebulae". The Astronomical Journal. 61 (3): 97–162.
  9. ^ Mayall, Nicholas U. (September 1946). "The Radial Velocities of Fifty Globular Star Clusters". Astrophysical Journal. 104: 290. doi:10.1086/144856.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. ^ a b c d McCray, W. Patrick (2004). Giant telescopes: astronomical ambition and the promise of technology. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674011473.
  11. ^ a b Edmondson, Frank Kelly (1997). AURA and its US national observatories. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521553458.

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