Neil Gehrels

Neil Gehrels
Born
Cornelis A. Gehrels

(1952-10-03)October 3, 1952
DiedFebruary 6, 2017(2017-02-06) (aged 64)
Occupation(s)Research scientist, professor, lecturer, author
Known forAstrophysics research
AwardsHenry Draper Medal (2009)
Scientific career
ThesisEnergetic oxygen and sulfur ions in the Jovian magnetosphere (1982)
Doctoral advisorsEdward C. Stone
Rochus Eugen Vogt

Cornelis A. "Neil" Gehrels (October 3, 1952 – February 6, 2017) was an American astrophysicist specializing in the field of gamma-ray astronomy. He was Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) from 1995 until his death, and was best known for his work developing the field from early balloon instruments to today's space observatories such as the NASA Swift mission, for which he was the principal investigator. He was leading the WFIRST (now called the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope) wide-field infrared telescope forward toward a launch in the mid-2020s. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Gehrels died on February 6, 2017, at the age of 64.[1] On January 10, 2018, NASA announced that Swift had been renamed the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, in his honor.[2]

  1. ^ "Neil Gehrels (1952 - 2017)". American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  2. ^ "NASA's newly renamed Swift Mission spies a comet slowdown". Retrieved 2018-01-10.