Fred Lawrence Whipple
American astronomer · United States · On the map · Scientists · Lived 1906 to 2004 · aged 97
Fred Lawrence Whipple was an American astronomer, who worked at the Harvard College Observatory for more than 70 years. Among his achievements were asteroid and comet discoveries, the "dirty snowball" hypothesis of comets, and the invention of the Whipple shield.
Fred Lawrence Whipple is read about 19 times a day, in 36 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 11 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 113 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
2004Died30 August 20041990Whipple AwardAward1987Henry Norris Russell LectureshipAward1986Bruce MedalAward1985Gerard P. Kuiper PrizeAward1984International Space Hall of FameAward1983Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical SocietyAward1970Leonard MedalAward1962Fellow of the American Geophysical UnionAward1949J. Lawrence Smith MedalAward1906Born5 November 1906
Media & music
Photos 4
Halley's Comet at Giotto's closest approach, 1986
Under a banner for Operation Moonwatch, people are lined up at the entrance to a Satellite Demonstration set up in Biloxi, Mississippi, 1958.
Fred Whipple, left, and Leonard Carmichael, seventh Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, when Whipple won the President's Award presented by John F. Kennedy, 1962Awards
About this person
Country
United States
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1906 to 2004 · aged 97
Where to find them
The same award as Fred
Harold UreyBoth received Leonard Medal
Jan Hendrik OortBoth received Henry Norris Russell Lectureship
Clair Cameron PattersonBoth received J. Lawrence Smith Medal
James A. Van AllenBoth received Gerard P. Kuiper Prize
Yakov ZeldovichBoth received Bruce Medal
Martin ReesBoth received Henry Norris Russell Lectureship