Roger Angel

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This article is about the astrophysicist. For the American author, see Roger Angell.
Roger Angel
FRS
Born
James Roger Prior Angel

(1941-02-07) February 7, 1941 (age 84)[1]
St Helens, Lancashire, England
NationalityAmerican, British
EducationOxford (B.A., Ph.D.)
California Institute of Technology (M.S.)
Known forSpin casting
Multi-object spectroscopy
Lobster-eye optics
Space sunshade
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics, Optics
InstitutionsColumbia University
University of Arizona

James Roger Prior Angel (born February 7, 1941) is a British-American astrophysicist known for his contributions to astronomy and the design and fabrication of large optics for telescopes, solar power and other applications. He developed the spin casting and stressed lap polishing techniques used at the University of Arizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab to produce mirrors for some of the largest optical telescopes in the world.[1][2] He is a Regents' Professor of Astronomy and Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona.[3]

Education

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Angel graduated from St Peter's College, Oxford, with a BA, in 1963, from California Institute of Technology, with an MS, in 1966, and from the University of Oxford, with a D Phil, in 1967.[1] While at Oxford's Clarendon Laboratory he built an early computer to allow for the first direct measurement an atom's quadrupole moment.[3][4]

Career and research

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After receiving his doctorate, Angel moved to New York City to take a position in the Columbia University Physics Department. He began research in astrophysics and astronomical instrumentation, building sounding rocket X-ray spectroscopes and ground-based telescope polarimeters for the observation of degenerate stars and other objects.[5][6] In 1970, he was among the first to observe white dwarf magnetism.[7][8]

Angel moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1973 to join the University of Arizona Department of Astronomy.[1] In 1977, he proposed using fused-silica optical fiber to separate and obtain the spectra of multiple sources of light from a single telescope image, the now widely-used technique of multi-object spectroscopy.[9] In 1980, John Hill and Angel were the first to demonstrate the technique, measuring the redshifts of 26 individual galaxies based on a single exposure.[10]

lobster-eye X-ray optics

In 1979, he proposed the lobster-eye optics design for X-ray astronomy.[11][12] The design was first demonstrated on a NASA sounding rocket in 2013 and used for the Einstein Probe X-ray space telescope launched in 2024.[13]

In 2006, Angel proposed a space sunshade composed of trillions of refractive disks in stable orbit between the Earth and the Sun where they would deflect enough solar radiation to counteract global warming. He estimated that the project could be developed over 25 years for less than 0.5% of world gross domestic product over that time.[14][15]

Awards and honors

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Angel received a Sloan Research Fellowship for physics in 1970. In 1976 he was awarded the American Astonomical Society's Newton Lacy Pierce Prize.[5] He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1996.[16] In 2010 he shared the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics with Jerry Nelson and Raymond Wilson for innovations in the field of telescope design.[17]

Angel is an Honorary Fellow of St. Peter's College, Oxford and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1990 he was made a fellow of both the Royal Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[18][19] In 2000 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Roger Angel | American astronomer | Britannica".
  2. ^ Gibbs, Wayt (December 1, 2005). "Breaking the Mold". Scientific American.
  3. ^ a b "J. Roger Angel | Professor of Astronomy". Wyant College of Optical Sciences. The University of Arizona. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  4. ^ Angel, Roger (1967-08-15). "Direct Measurement of an Atomic Quadrupole Moment". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 47 (4): 1552–1553. Bibcode:1967JChPh..47.1552A. doi:10.1063/1.1712116.
  5. ^ a b "Optical Society presents annual awards for 1976". Physics Today. November 1976. p. 83. doi:10.1063/1.3024528.
  6. ^ "Roger Angel Graduate Student Scholarship in Optical Sciences". Wyant College of Optical Sciences. University of Arizona.
  7. ^ Kemp, J.C.; Swedlund, J.B.; Landstreet, J.D.; Angel, J.R.P. (1970). "Discovery of circularly polarized light from a white dwarf". The Astrophysical Journal. 161: L77. Bibcode:1970ApJ...161L..77K. doi:10.1086/180574.
  8. ^ Landstreet, John D. (6 August 2020). "Reflections on the discovery of the first magnetic white dwarf". PTA Proceedings: 51–58.
  9. ^ Hill, John (1988). "The History of Multiobject Fiber Spectroscopy". ASP Conference Series. 3.
  10. ^ Hill, J.M.; Angel, J.R.P.; Scott, J.S.; Lindley, D.; Hintzen, P. (December 1980). "Multiple object spectroscopy: the medusa spectrograph". Astrophysical Journal. 242: L69 – L72.
  11. ^ Angel, J.R.P. (1 October 1979). "Lobster eyes as X-ray telescopes". Astrophysical Journal. 233: 364–373.
  12. ^ Hartline, Beverly Karplus (4 January 1980). "Lobster-Eye X-ray Telescope Envisioned". Science. 207 (4426): 47. Bibcode:1980Sci...207...47K. doi:10.1126/science.207.4426.47. ISSN 0036-8075. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  13. ^ Bartlet, Janet (24 January 2024). "China launches lobster-eye telescope". WhyChinese.co.za. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  14. ^ Angel, Roger (2006-11-14). "Feasibility of cooling the Earth with a cloud of small spacecraft near the inner Lagrange point (L1)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (46): 17184–17189. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10317184A. doi:10.1073/pnas.0608163103. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1859907. PMID 17085589.
  15. ^ Palca, Joe (2012-08-23). "Telescope Innovator Shines His Genius On New Fields". NPR.
  16. ^ "Fellowships Reward Bright Stars", Associated Press, The Free Lance-Star, Terri Likens, June 19, 1996
  17. ^ "University of Arizona telescope pioneer to receive medal minted close to home". 2010-09-02.
  18. ^ "Professor James Angel FRS". The Royal Society.
  19. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 18, 2011.