Astro Biography: Dr. Eugene N. Parker

Matthew Lawlor

Dacey

Hon. Astro

25 May 2014

Biography: Dr. Eugene N. Parker

Life outside science:

            Born June 10, 1927 to an average American family, Eugene Parker grew up in Michigan. Eugene received his B.S. degree in physics from Michigan State University in 1948 and Ph.D. from Caltech in 1951. Parker was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1967. As of early 2005, he was still engaged in active research at the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago he has held positions in the physics department, the astronomy and astrophysics department and the Enrico Fermi Institute. He is the leading authority on the solar wind and the effects of magnetic fields in the heliosphere.

Contribution to science:

           In the mid-1950s Parker developed the theory on the supersonic solar wind and predicted the Parker spiral shape of the solar magnetic field in the outer solar system. In 1987, Parker proposed that the solar corona might be heated by myriad tiny "nanoflares", miniature brightenings resembling solar flares that would occur all over the surface of the Sun.

Legacy:

Eugene Parker’s work has greatly increased understanding of the solar corona, the solar wind, the magnetic fields of both the Earth and the Sun, and their complex electromagnetic interactions. The theoretical models which he developed in part by looking at comet tails have in recent years been confirmed by spacecraft. His books, especially Cosmical Magnetic Fields, have educated generations of investigators. His most recent book includes the effects of magnetic fields of planets, stars, and galaxies on X-ray emissions.