Arthur B.C. Walker Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 24, 1936 |
| Died | April 29, 2001 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois, Case Institute of Technology, Bronx High School of Science |
| Known for | Pioneering EUV/XUV optics, developing normal incidence multilayer XUV telescopes to photograph the solar corona, and mentoring students from underrepresented groups |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Solar physics, astrophysics, astronomy |
| Institutions | Stanford University, Aerospace Corporation, U.S. Air Force |
| Thesis | Photo meson Production from Neutrons Bound in Helium and Deuterium |
| Notable students | Sally Ride, Hakeem Oluseyi |
Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker Jr. (August 24, 1936 – April 29, 2001) was an African-American solar physicist and a pioneer of EUV/XUV optics. He developed normal incidence multilayer XUV telescopes to photograph the solar corona. Two of his sounding rocket payloads, the Stanford/MSFC Rocket Spectroheliograph Experiment and the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array, recorded the first full-disk, high-resolution images of the Sun in XUV with conventional geometries of normal incidence optics. This technology is used in solar telescopes such as SOHO/EIT and TRACE, and in the fabrication of microchips via ultraviolet photolithography.