Iosif Samuilovich ShklovskiiDied 3 Mar 1985 at age 68 (born 1 Jul 1916).Iosif Samuilovich Shklovskii was a Soviet astrophysicist who identified the continuum radiation of the Crab Nebula as synchrotron radiation, and he linked x-ray stars to binary systems containing a neutron star. His investigation of the corona of the sun showed it had a temperature of the order of a million kelvin, and that magnetic fields act to confine it. He applied radio astronomy to study supernovae. Mass extinctions on earth, he suggested, may have resulted from the cosmic rays ejected from past supernovae happening at relatively close range to our solar sytem. He was awarded the 1972 Bruce Medal. Shklovskii was one of the earliest well-respected astrophysicists to regard the possibility of extraterrestrial life as worthy of consideration. His popular books includeIntelligent Life in the Universe (English translation by Carl Sagan).« |
