Edwin Ernest Salpeter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edwin Ernest Salpeter (born December 3, 1924) is an Austrian-Australian-American astronomer. He emigrated from Austria to Australia while in his teens. He received his PhD from Birmingham University in 1948, since when he has been at Cornell University. He is currently the James Gilbert White Distinguished Professor of the Physical Sciences, Emeritus.
In 1951 Salpeter suggested that stars could burn helium into carbon with the Triple-alpha process. He later derived the initial mass function for the formation rates of stars of different mass in the Galaxy.
[edit] Honors
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1973)
- Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1974)
- Bruce Medal (1987)
- Crafoord Prize with Fred Hoyle (1997)
[edit] External links
 |
This astronomer-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This Australian scientist article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Categories: Astronomer stubs | Australian scientist stubs | 1924 births | Living people | American astronomers | Austrian astronomers | Australian astronomers | Australian Jews | Jewish scientists | Members and associates of the US National Academy of Sciences | 20th century astronomers | 21st century astronomers | Cornell University faculty
