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Milton La Salle Humason (August 19, 1891 – June 18, 1972) was an American astronomer. He was born in Dodge Center, Minnesota.

Milton La Salle Humason
Born	(1891-08-19)August 19, 1891 Dodge Center, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	June 18, 1972(1972-06-18) (aged 80) Mendocino, California, U.S.
Citizenship	United States
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	Mount Wilson Observatory

Biography

Humason dropped out of school and had no formal education past the age of 14. Because he loved the mountains, and Mount Wilson in particular, he became a "mule skinner" taking materials and equipment up the mountain while Mount Wilson Observatory was being built. In 1917, after a short stint on a ranch in La Verne, he became a janitor at the observatory. Out of sheer interest, he volunteered to be a night assistant at the observatory. His technical skill and quiet manner made him a favorite on the mountain. Recognizing his talent, in 1919, George Ellery Hale made him a Mt. Wilson staff member. This was unprecedented, as Humason did not have a Ph.D., or even a high school diploma. He soon proved Hale's judgment correct, as he made several key observational discoveries. He became known as a meticulous observer, obtaining photographs and difficult spectrograms of faint galaxies. His observations played a major role in the development of physical cosmology, including assisting Edwin Hubble in formulating Hubble's law. In 1950 he earned a D.Sc. from Lund University.[1] He retired in 1957.

He discovered Comet C/1961 R1 (Humason), notable for its large perihelion distance.

Due to merest chance, Humason missed discovering Pluto. Eleven years before Clyde Tombaugh, Humason took a set of four photographs in which the image of Pluto appeared.[2] There is persistent speculation that he missed discovering the dwarf planet because it fell on a defect in the photographic plate. This is unlikely, however, given that it appeared in four separate photographs over three different nights.

Much of the work Humason performed was actually credited to Hubble, the two of whom worked together for many years.^{[citation needed]}

He died in Mendocino, California.

In popular culture

In the popular documentary Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by astronomer Carl Sagan, Humason's life and work are portrayed on screen in episode 10: The Edge of Forever.

Humason was also the inspiration for the Big Dipper song "Humason," which appeared on the Boston group's 1987 album Heavens.

Honors

• The crater Humason on the Moon is named after him as are "Humason-Zwicky stars".[3]

Cited sources

External links

• Obituary
• Biography

На других языках

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[de] Milton Lasell Humason

Milton Lasell Humason, auch Milton La Salle Humason (* 19. August 1891 in Dodge Center, Minnesota; † 18. Juni 1972 in Mendocino, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Astronom. Mit seinen Arbeiten im Mount-Wilson-Observatorium trug er entscheidend zur Entdeckung der Expansion des Universums bei.

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- [en] Milton L. Humason

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[es] Milton Humason

Milton Lasalle Humason (Dodge Center, Minnesota, EE. UU., 19 de agosto de 1891 – Mendocino, California, EE. UU., 18 de junio de 1972) fue un Astrónomo estadounidense conocido por descubrir, junto a Edwin Hubble, la ley de Hubble-Lemaître según la cual las galaxias se alejan más deprisa cuanto más lejos se encuentran, lo que posteriormente se consideraría como una prueba de la expansión del Universo.

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[it] Milton Lasell Humason

Milton Lasell Humason (Dodge Center, 19 agosto 1891 – Mendocino, 18 giugno 1972) è stato un astronomo statunitense.

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[ru] Хьюмасон, Милтон

Милтон Хьюмасон (англ. Milton Lasell Humason, 1891−1972) — американский астроном.

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