Reynold Kenneth Young (October 4, 1886 – February 27, 1973) was a Canadian astronomer. He served as first director of the David Dunlap Observatory from 1935 until 1946.

Biography

Young was born on October 4, 1886, in the town of Binbrook, Ontario, the son of Robert Young and Jean Bell. He studied at the Hamilton Collegiate Institute (the city of Hamilton's first high school), then in 1905 he matriculated to the University of Toronto. In 1909 he graduated with a B. A. degree in astronomy, and was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for first class honors. With a fellowship for graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, Young spent three years as a Fellow at the

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...

. There he met his future wife, Wilhelmina Ellen Aitken, a fellow astronomer and the daughter of the observatory director, Robert G. Aitken. Young collaborated with Wilhelmina on a study of the orbital elements of the comet

C/1911 O1 C/1911 O1 (Brooks), also designated 1911 V or Comet Brooks, was a bright comet discovered in July 1911 by astronomer William Robert Brooks. It is notable for becoming a bright naked-eye object of second magnitude, with a narrow straight tail of u ...

in 1911. In 1912, under his advisor William Wallace Campbell, Young was awarded a doctorate in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley with a thesis titled, ''Polarization of the light in the solar corona''. On June 17, 1912, Young was married to Wilhelmina. The couple would have two children before their marriage ended shortly after August 1917. After spending an unhappy year teaching at the University of Kansas physics department, he became a researcher at the Dominion Observatory in 1913. There he published the orbital solutions for nine spectroscopic binaries and performed

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the temporal rate of change, rate of change of the distance or Slant range, range between the two points. It is e ...

studies of various stars. During 1915, Young developed

star chart A star chart is a celestial map of the night sky with astronomical objects laid out on a grid system. They are used to identify and locate constellations, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and planets. They have been used for human navigation since ...

s that used

gnomonic projection A gnomonic map projection is a map projection which displays all great circles as straight lines, resulting in any straight line segment on a gnomonic map showing a geodesic, the shortest route between the segment's two endpoints. This is achie ...

, which allowed observers to accurately plot the straight line path of a meteor trail. Following a productive three years, in August 1917 he joined the staff of

John S. Plaskett John Stanley Plaskett (November 17, 1865 – October 17, 1941) was a Canadian astronomer. Career He worked as a machinist, and was offered a job as a mechanician at the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, constructing appar ...

as an astronomer at the recently founded Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO). This was the site of a newly constructed aperture telescope, then the second largest in the world. Much of Young's work at the DAO was performing measurements of

stellar parallax Stellar parallax is the apparent shift of position of any nearby star (or other object) against the background of distant objects, and a basis for determining (through trigonometry) the distance of the object. Created by the different orbital p ...

in collaboration with William E. Harper. Over 1,100 parallax determinations were made. Young used the large instrument to extend the nation's program of stellar spectroscopy to fainter stars of magnitude six or lower. RK Young inspects observatory clock

Young joined Clarence A. Chant on an expedition to observe the solar eclipse of September 21, 1922 from Wallal, Western Australia. Among their instruments was a camera intended to capture the deflection of starlight by the Sun's gravity. The results were "in harmony" with the predictions of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Young joined Chant at the astronomy department of the University of Toronto in 1924 as an associate professor. During 1926–1928, he designed and constructed the mechanical and optical components for a telescope, to be used by the university. Chant retired immediately following the opening ceremony of the David Dunlap Observatory on May 31, 1935, leaving Young to become the observatory's first director. Young began a four-year study of stellar radial velocities, while simultaneously assembling a photographic archive. He served as chair of the University of Toronto astronomy department from 1935 to 1946. In 1936, he was married to Amy Gertrude Graham, a mother of four children from a prior marriage. Starting in 1940, much of the observatory staff left to serve in Canada's military effort during World War 2. However, due to Young's efforts, the observatory remained in operation throughout the war. Following the conflict, Young retired as Professor Emeritus on January 1, 1946. Until 1964, Young lived in Richmond Hill with his wife, then the couple moved to

Cobourg Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...

. His wife passed away on February 27, 1973. The following year, Young moved to Peterborough to be near his step-children. He died December 24, 1977. His daughter

Marjorie J. Vold Marjorie J. Vold (October 25, 1913 – November 4, 1991) was an American chemist. Her research focused on colloids, and was recognized with a Garvan-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society in 1967. Early life and education Marjorie Jean ...

née Young became an expert in

colloid chemistry A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others extend ...

. She was named the ''Los Angeles Times'' woman of the year in 1966, and was awarded the Garvan-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society in 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Reynold Kenneth 1886 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Canadian astronomers University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto