James A. Van Allen
American astrophysicist (1914-2006) · United States · On the map · Scientists · Died at 91
James Alfred Van Allen was an American space physicist at the University of Iowa who was instrumental in establishing the field of magnetospheric research in space.
James A. Van Allen is read about 75 times a day, in 48 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
People around James
Close ties
Also in Deutsch
Media & music
Photos 6
Model of Van Allen Radiation Belts, Credit: NASA
Pickering, Van Allen, and Von Braun at the IGY news conference, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Van Allen alongside physicist Edward Smith at a Pioneer 11 press conference, 1974
James Van Allen Elementary in North Liberty, Iowa
Artist's rendition of Van Allen Probes in Earth orbit. Credit: NASAAwards
About this person
His discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, zones of energetic charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field, was the first major scientific finding of the Space Age. As principal investigator for scientific instruments on 24 Earth satellites and planetary missions, Van Allen provided the first in situ measurements of the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, pioneered the use of energetic particle absorption signatures to detect planetary rings and satellites, and carried out a multi-decade program of cosmic ray observations that established the radial gradient of galactic cosmic ray intensity from 1 AU to beyond 65 AU in the heliosphere.
