Frank J. Low

Frank James Low (November 23, 1933 – June 11, 2009) was an American solid state physicist who became a leader in the new field of infrared astronomy, after inventing the gallium doped germanium bolometer in 1961. This detector extended the range of the observable spectrum to much longer wavelengths.

Early life and education Born on November 23, 1933, in Mobile, Alabama, Low grew up as a child in Houston, Texas. His undergraduate studies in physics were at Yale University and he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics from Rice University in 1959.

Low was named to serve as facility scientist for NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility, later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope. The effort had been delayed by cost overruns, until Low had an inspiration at a 1993 retreat for the project's scientists; the passive cooling technique could be used – rather than place the entire telescope in a bath of liquid helium to cool the unit to temperatures near absolute zero, the unit could be exposed to the vacuum of space to radiate most of its heat while the detectors themselves were the only components cooled using liquid helium, a design change that allowed the Spitzer project to go ahead towards its launch in 2003. Timothy Hawarden has been recognized by NASA for the development of the passive cooling technique, which has also been included in other space probes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, a partial successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, that will search for the oldest objects in the universe.

Personal Low died at age 75 on June 11, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona, after a long illness. He was survived by his wife, three children and six grandchildren.

Honors Awards Rumford Prize (1986) Helen Warner Prize (1968) Joseph Weber Award (2003) Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory(2006) Bruce Medal (2006) Named after him Kleinmann–Low Nebula (with Douglas E. Kleinmann) Asteroid 12142 Franklow