Dean Benjamin McLaughlin (born October 25, 1901,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York CIty; died December 8, 1965,

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

, Michigan, US) was an American

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He was a professor of astronomy at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He was the father of the science fiction author Dean B. McLaughlin, Jr. He received his B.S. (1923), his M.S. (1924) and his Ph.D. (1927) all from Michigan. McLaughlin married fellow astronomer Laura Elizabeth Hill in 1927. In 1954 he proposed the theory that there are

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

es on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

and that their eruptions change the

albedo feature An albedo feature is a large area on the surface of a planet (or other Solar System body) which shows a contrast in brightness or darkness (albedo) with adjacent areas. Historically, albedo features were the first (and usually only) features to b ...

s called "mare" (The martian equivalent of

Lunar mare The lunar maria (; singular: mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient asteroid impacts on the far side on the Moon that triggered volcanic activity on the opposite (near) side. They were dubbed , Latin for 'seas' ...

). His proposal was partially confirmed in 1971 with the arrival of

Mariner 9 Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71 / Mariner-I) was a robotic spacecraft that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from LC-36B at Cape Canaveral Air ...

, which showed that strong winds could move dust around the planet, creating the changes of appearance formerly attributed to some kind of vegetatio

A Impact crater, crater on Mars was named in his honor, as is the crater McLaughlin on the far side of the Moon and the asteroid

2024 McLaughlin 2024 McLaughlin, provisional designation , is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometer in diameter. It was discovered 23 October 1952, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brookl ...

. In 2014 NASA scientists announced they had discovered evidence of water in Mars' McLaughlin Crater.

References

External links

Dean B. McLaughlin, Faculty History Project, U. Michigan
1901 births 1965 deaths American astronomers University of Michigan faculty People from Brooklyn Scientists from New York (state) University of Michigan alumni {{US-astronomer-stub

See also

References

External links