Franklin Evans Roach (September 23, 1905Obituary, Osterbrock, ''BAAS'', p. 1608. – September 21, 1993Obituary, Osterbrock, ''BAAS'', p. 1610.) 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 ...

, astrophysicist,

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, and scientist analyzing

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

phenomenon who made significant contributions to the field of

aeronomy Aeronomy is the scientific study of the upper atmosphere of the Earth and corresponding regions of the atmospheres of other planets. It is a branch of both atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics. Scientists specializing in aeronomy, known a ...

in upper atmosphere research as one of its fathers. Roach was involved in

high explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

physics research connected with the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

and later with

NICAP The National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) is an unidentified flying object (UFO) research group most active in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s. It remains active primarily as an informational depository on th ...

and the

Condon Committee The Condon Committee was the informal name of the University of Colorado UFO Project, a group funded by the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1968 at the University of Colorado to study unidentified flying objects under the direction of physi ...

as part of

ufology Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and f ...

Biography

Roach was born in Jamestown (now known as

Jamestown Charter Township Jamestown Charter Township is a charter township of Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2021, the township had an estimated population of 9,923 people. Communities * Forest Grove – near Jamestown * Gitchel – the area settled ...

), Ottawa County,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, fifteen miles southwest of

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

to his optometrist father Richard Franklin Roach (1878-1939)Roach, ''Musings'', p. 11. and his mother, a housewife, Ingeborg "Belle" Mathilde Torgerson (1878-1957). Franklin Roach died two days before reaching age 88. Franklin was a Boy Scout as a youth reaching the rank of First Class while participating in a Scout Troop in Wheaton, Illinois under the direction of his father who was its Scoutmaster. Roach attended in 1919-1921 his first two years of secondary education at Wheaton High SchoolThe site of the original Wheaton Grade School and Wheaton High School housed in the same physical building constructed in 1874 and in operation with classes in 1876 is now known as Longfellow Elementary School in Wheaton, Illinois. in Wheaton, Illinois. This was followed by his final two years with graduation in 1923 from Benjamin Franklin High School in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

while residing in the Highland Park region of that city from 1921-1923. Roach had three siblings: Laurance (c1909/1910-1993), Alice (-1995), and Richard (-1982). Roach is buried in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

Rayleigh Unit

The Rayleigh Unit is a unit of

photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they always ...

flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications to physics. For transport ph ...

used to measure the

radiance In radiometry, radiance is the radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received by a given surface, per unit solid angle per unit projected area. Radiance is used to characterize diffuse emission and reflection of electromagnetic radiatio ...

air glow Airglow (also called nightglow) is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and dif ...

, atmospheric phenomena like

auroras An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in polar regions of Earth, high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display ...

, and integrated starlight of various forms in

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

. The Rayleigh Unit was first proposed in 1956 by Donald M. Hunten, Franklin E. Roach, and Joseph W. Chamberlain and named by them for

Robert John Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh Robert John Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh (28 August 1875 – 13 December 1947) was a British peer and physicist. He discovered "active nitrogen" and was the first to distinguish the glow of the night sky. Early life and education Strutt was bo ...

(1875–1947) who first discovered the glow of the night sky. The symbol for the unit is R, also like the unrelated Roentgen unit.

Fulbright Scholar

Franklin Roach spent a year in Paris in 1951-2 on a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

investigating night-sky research.Obituary, Osterbrock, ''BAAS'', p. 1609. Roach also worked with a European pioneer,

Daniel Barbier Daniel Barbier (10 December 1907 – 1 April 1965) was a French astronomer born in Lyon. Between 1930 and 1965 he published nearly 100 scientific papers on astronomy. Among his works were studies of stellar atmospheres and lunar occultations and e ...

, in this same field.

Encounter with Struve

Roach, who had a gentle personality, worked early in his career with

Otto Struve Otto Struve (August 12, 1897 – April 6, 1963) was a Russian-American astronomer of Baltic German origins. In Russian, his name is sometimes given as Otto Lyudvigovich Struve (Отто Людвигович Струве); however, he spent most o ...

. Struve had an abrasive personality, and spared no words upon his victims. Struve encouraged the removal of the existing Director of

Yerkes Observatory Yerkes Observatory ( ) is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2018. Owne ...

and facilitated his own appointment to the same position, despite Frost originally inviting Struve to come to Yerkes when Struve at that time only spoke Russian and was destitute in Turkey and Greece after escaping the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. On July 1, 1932 Struve succeeded

Edwin Brant Frost Edwin Brant Frost II (July 14, 1866 – May 14, 1935) was an American astronomer. Biography He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. His father, Carlton Pennington Frost, was dean of Dartmouth Medical School. Frost graduated from Dartmouth in ...

as Director of Yerkes Observatory. Roach, a graduate student at Yerkes in an office on that date, had the following encounter with Struve while measuring a spectogram authorized by the existing Director Frost earlier that morning: *Version in ''Yerkes'':From communication (letter?) of Roach to Osterbrock, dated May 30, 1991, as noted in ''Yerkes'' book.β Lyrae = Beta Lyrae. *Version in ''Musings'':Frost was well loved in the community and is still remembered to this day; Struve is not. Frost had allowed Roach to review the spectrum of Beta Lyrae as, probably unbeknownst to Roach, Frost had studied this particular star and wrote a paper on it which was published in 1895 earlier on in Frost's career.

Book Contributions

Roach wrote most or contributed in part to several important books. Two elucidating on the subject of

airglow Airglow (also called nightglow) is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and diff ...

Airglow as a term involves three types. During the day airglow is known as "day-glow"; at night as "night-glow"; or in connection with the

gegenschein Gegenschein (; ; ) or counterglow is a faintly bright spot in the night sky centered at the antisolar point. The backscatter of sunlight by interplanetary dust causes this optical phenomenon. Explanation Like zodiacal light, gegenschein is su ...

as either "counterglow" or "countershine" as part of the

zodiacal light The zodiacal light (also called false dawn when seen before sunrise) is a faint glow of diffuse sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Brighter around the Sun, it appears in a particularly dark night sky to extend from the Sun's direction in ...

. would serve as foundation volumes in the field of upper atmosphere science: ''Aurora and Airglow'' edited by B. M. McCormac, and ''The Light of the Night Sky''. Another one with a scientific approach to

in the early 1970s would serve as a foundation volume for that field of exploratory science: ''UFO's: A Scientific Debate'' edited by

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

and Thornton Page. On the general front, he would write the chapter "Aurora and Airglow" in the

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

book ''The Planet Earth'' for the popular audience.

''The Light of the Night Sky''

While still associated with "Rutgers, The State University" in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Roach served as the principal author, along with co-author Janet L. Gordon (then working for and associated with the

Bernice P. Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the larg ...

in Honolulu), in a successful book which served as an important early volume in the series ''Geophysics and Astrophysics Monographs''. Gordon proofread and edited Roach's work, and wrote the historical sections to provide further context. Gordon was married with Roach later in 1977. The volume was published in December 1973 and became the fourth volume in this international series of fundamental

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

s on the subjects of

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

. Roach's and Gordon's volume was entitled ''The Light of the Night Sky'' and dealt with the subject of the composition of the lighted sky itself in the topical subject area "the light of the night sky" (LONS). It gave scientific presentations with a fundamental overview of the atmospheric processes and interstellar physics involved, especially on Earth's nightside. The preface was prepared in August 1973 and Roach was still writing later chapters in September. Topics discussed included the

dark adaptation Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low l ...

of the

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

star count Star counts are bookkeeping surveys of stars and the statistical and geometrical methods used to correct the survey data for bias. The surveys are most often made of nearby stars in the Milky Way galaxy. One of the interests of astronomy is to de ...

s and the distribution of

starlight Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime. Sunligh ...

over the sky, the

polarization Polarization or polarisation may refer to: Mathematics *Polarization of an Abelian variety, in the mathematics of complex manifolds *Polarization of an algebraic form, a technique for expressing a homogeneous polynomial in a simpler fashion by ...

of the "Zodiacal Light", and the study of "The Gegenschein". Further discussions concerned whether the night-glow was a static or dynamic phenomena, the sources or causes of night-glow, the photochemical reactions in Earth's upper atmosphere, the appearance of the night-glow from space in Earth's

exosphere The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densit ...

and geocorona. The book also dealt with the polar aurora, auroral arcs, the varying brightness of the "Night-glow Layer" depending on zenithal distance, dust-scattered starlight, the diffuse galactic light, dust in the interplanetary and interstellar environment concerning the " Zodiacal Dust Cloud", and interstellar dust. The text ended with a summation concerning the cosmic light between

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

and the contemplative topic of cosmology.

Awards

Becoming a world authority in auroral studies and airglow, Franklin travelled to Washington, D.C. in early 1961 to be honored as the recipient of the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

of the U.S. Department of Commerce for his "outstanding contribution to upper atmosphere physics by means of studies of optical emission from the night sky".Eloise Blakslee Roach notation; Roach, ''Musings'', p. 156. Franklin had been nominated for the award by Gordon Little. The award was bestowed to him by

Luther H. Hodges Luther Hartwell Hodges (March 9, 1898October 6, 1974) was a businessman and American politician. After a career in textile manufacturing, he entered public service, gaining some state appointments. Elected as lieutenant governor of North Carolin ...

,Roach, ''Musings'', p. 155, picture and caption. the 15th United States Secretary of Commerce who had just completed his second term as

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

Legacy

;Memorial Scholarship Franklin E. Roach Memorial Scholarship, University of Arizona. ;Archives Following Roach's passing his papers were archived in 1994 in Alaska upon the recommendation of Bob Eklund (Robert L. Eklund) (associated with Mount Wilson Observatory) to

Donald Osterbrock Donald Edward Osterbrock (July 13, 1924 – January 11, 2007) was an American astronomer, best known for his work on star formation and on the history of astronomy. Biography Osterbrock was born in Cincinnati. His father was an electrical engi ...

who made arrangements: *Franklin E. Roach Papers, Archives, Alaska and Polar Regions Department, Collections Section,

Elmer E. Rasmuson Library The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library (often referred to as Rasmuson Library) is the largest research library in the U.S. state of Alaska, housing just over one million volumes. Located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, it is named in honor o ...

, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Notes

Citations

References

*Hunten, D. M.; Roach, F. E.; Chamberlain, J. W., "A photometric unit for the air-glow and aurora", ''Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics'', 1956 June, Vol. 8, No. 6, pp. 345–346. * Osterbrock, Donald E., Obituary: "Franklin Evans Roach, 1905-1993", ''Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society'', 1994 September, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 1608–1610. *Osterbrock, Donald E., ''Yerkes Observatory, 1892-1950: The Birth, Near Death, and Resurrection of a Scientific Research Institution'', The University of Chicago Press, 1997, , hardcover (cloth). *Roach, Franklin Evans, ''Musings and Memoirs of Franklin Evans Roach'', with annotated comments by Eloise Blakslee Roach; Edited by Janet Gordon-Roach, Charlotte L. Roach Vedeler, and Chris Vedeler, book format (1999) copyright Charlotte Vedeler and Gerry Roach, privately published, softcover (only)(blue wraps). {{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Franklin Evans 1905 births 1993 deaths American astronomers Manhattan Project people Ufologists University of Chicago alumni Department of Commerce Gold Medal People from Ottawa County, Michigan University of Michigan alumni Franklin High School (Los Angeles) alumni