Tim Hawarden

Hawarden was born in Mossel Bay, Cape Province, South Africa. He graduated from the University of Natal in 1966 with a BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and then graduated from the University of Cape Town with an MSc in Astronomy 1970 and then a PhD in 1975 on old open clusters.{{Cite thesis |last=Hawarden |first=Timothy George |title=Photometry of Melotte 66 and Related Investigations of Old Open Clusters |date=1970 |degree=MSc |publisher=University of Cape Town |oclc=92835550}}{{Cite thesis |last=Hawarden |first=Timothy George |title=Old Southern Open Clusters |date=1975 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Cape Town |oclc=931661679 |url=https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/14823/thesis_sci_1975_hawarden_timothy_george.pdf |access-date=2022-03-19 |archive-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319043049/https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/14823/thesis_sci_1975_hawarden_timothy_george.pdf |url-status=live}} While undertaking his PhD he worked as an optical astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope and then from 1972 as the Deputy Head of the Photometry Department at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town.{{Cite journal |last=Longmore |first=Andy |date=2010-06-01 |title=Tim Hawarden 1943–2009 |journal=Astronomy & Geophysics |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=3.38 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-4004.2010.51336_2.x |via=Oxford Academic |doi-access=free}} In 1975 he worked as the Deputy Astronomer-in-Charge of the UK Schmidt Telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.{{Cite web |last=Robson |first=Ian |title=Dr. Tim Hawarden |url=https://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/staff/tgh/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429201225/https://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/staff/tgh/index.html |archive-date=2022-04-29 |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=Royal Observatory, Edinburgh}}

In 1978 he moved to work at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Scotland, from which he was based for the rest of his career.{{Cite journal |last=Robson |first=Ian |date=2011-01-01 |title=Obituary: Timothy Hawarden (1943-2009) |journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society |volume=43 |issue=1 |page=013 |bibcode=2011BAAS...43..013R |doi=10.3847/baasobit2011013 |issn=0002-7537 |bibcode-access=free |doi-access=free}} In 1981 he began working on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope in Hawaii. In 1987 he moved to Hawaii and led the telescope's ambitious upgrades programme throughout the 1990s.{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=John Keith |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/939404629 |title=The Life Story of an Infrared Telescope |publisher=Springer Praxis Books |year=2016 |isbn=978-3-319-23579-0 |location= |pages=163–171 |language=En |oclc=939404629 |author-link=John K. Davies (astronomer) |access-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082456/https://www.worldcat.org/title/life-story-of-an-infrared-telescope/oclc/939404629 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last1=Hawarden |first1=Tim |last2=Adamson |first2=Andy |last3=Davies |first3=John |author-link3=John K. Davies (astronomer) |last4=Robson |first4=Ian |title=Thirty Years of Astronomical Discovery with UKIRT |chapter=The UKIRT Upgrades Programme |date=2013 |editor-last=Adamson |editor-first=Andy |editor2-last=Davies |editor2-first=John |editor3-last=Robson |editor3-first=Ian |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-7432-2_6 |url-status=live |series=Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings |language=en |location=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |volume=37 |pages=63–74 |bibcode=2013ASSP...37...63A |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-7432-2_6 |isbn=978-94-007-7432-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319043100/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-7432-2_6 |archive-date=2022-03-19 |access-date=2022-03-19}} He returned to Edinburgh in 2001 and became the UK Astronomy Technology Centre Project Scientist developing extremely large telescopes (ELT) before retiring in 2006 to care for his wife Frances.{{Cite news |date=17 December 2009 |title=Dr Tim Hawarden |work=The Herald |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12604684.dr-tim-hawarden/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316221928/https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12604684.dr-tim-hawarden/ |archive-date=2022-03-16 |issn=0965-9439}} He remained active in the field of astronomy until his sudden death in Edinburgh in 2009.

Hawarden was involved in the development of the Infrared Space Observatory as the Co-Investigator for the infrared camera (ISOCAM) but he considered the cryogenic cooling system "horrendously complicated".{{Cite book |last=Pendergrast |first=Mark |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51655386 |title=Mirror {{!}} Mirror: A History of the Human Love Affair with Reflection |publisher=Basic Books |year=2004 |isbn=0-465-05471-4 |location=New York |chapter=12. Beyond Palomar |oclc=51655386 |author-link=Mark Pendergrast |access-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082456/https://www.worldcat.org/title/mirror-mirror-a-history-of-the-human-love-affair-with-reflection/oclc/51655386 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Biography of Dr Timothy Hawarden |url=https://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/support/pr/pressreleases/20100715-tgh-nasa/tgh-biog.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429201228/https://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/support/pr/pressreleases/20100715-tgh-nasa/tgh-biog.html |archive-date=2022-04-29 |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Royal Observatory, Edinburgh}} The dependency of infrared space telescopes on cryogenic cooling limited the telescope's lifespan as well as adding significant weight. In the early 1980s Hawarden began developing the idea of using passive cooling for infrared space telescopes through a combination of radiators, sunshields, and by locating the telescope further from Earth.{{Cite web |last1=Gardner |first1=Jonathan |last2=Lockwood |first2=Alexandra |date=2022-02-10 |title=Webb Is Chilling Out |url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/02/10/webb-is-chilling-out/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318232207/https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/02/10/webb-is-chilling-out/ |archive-date=2022-03-18 |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=James Webb Space Telescope |publisher=NASA |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2010-07-15 |title=NASA Awards the Late Dr. Timothy Hawarden for Contribution to Webb Telescope |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/releases/2010/10-060.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516135347/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/releases/2010/10-060.html |archive-date=2017-05-16 |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre |language=en}} Having a telescope orbit the Sun–Earth L₂ Lagrange point enables the sunshield to shelter the telescope from the radiant heat of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. A passively cooled telescope is significantly lighter and permits much larger optics and instruments.{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=John K. |author-link=John K. Davies (astronomer) |date=2006-08-21 |title=It will never work! An idea that changed infrared astronomy from space |url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/688/1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429201224/https://www.thespacereview.com/article/688/1 |archive-date=2022-04-29 |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=The Space Review}}

In 1989 Hawarden proposed such a telescope, the Passively Cooled Orbiting Infrared Observatory Telescope (POIROT) to the European Space Agency but the design was rejected.{{Cite journal |last=Longair |first=M. S. |author-link=Malcolm Longair |date=1992-07-01 |title=The future of space infrared astronomy |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00212470 |url-status=live |journal=Space Science Reviews |language=en |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=5–12 |bibcode=1992SSRv...61....5L |doi=10.1007/BF00212470 |issn=1572-9672 |s2cid=189798357 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082458/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00212470 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |access-date=2022-03-19 |bibcode-access=free|url-access=subscription }} In 1991 Hawarden and Harley Thronson proposed a similar design to NASA for the Edison project but the proposal was also rejected.{{Cite book |last=Rowan-Robinson |first=Michael |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/835236709 |title=Night Vision: Exploring the Infrared Universe |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-139-17601-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=143 |language=En |oclc=835236709 |author-link=Michael Rowan-Robinson |access-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082511/https://www.worldcat.org/title/night-vision-exploring-the-infrared-universe/oclc/835236709 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last1=Hawarden |first1=T. G. |last2=Cummings |first2=R. O. |last3=Telesco |first3=C. M. |last4=Thronson |first4=H. A. |date=1992-07-01 |title=Optimised radiative cooling of infrared space telescopes and applications to possible missions |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00212480 |url-status=live |journal=Space Science Reviews |language=en |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=113–144 |bibcode=1992SSRv...61..113H |doi=10.1007/BF00212480 |issn=1572-9672 |s2cid=189787099 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082458/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00212480 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |access-date=2022-03-19 |bibcode-access=free|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Thronson |first1=H. A. |last2=Davies |first2=J. K. |author-link2=John K. Davies (astronomer) |last3=Hackwell |first3=J. |last4=Hawarden |first4=T. G. |last5=Knacke |first5=R. F. |last6=Lester |first6=D. |last7=Mountain |first7=C. M. |author-link7=Matt Mountain |date=1992-07-01 |title=EDISON: The next generation infrared space observatory |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00212481 |url-status=live |journal=Space Science Reviews |language=en |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=145–169 |bibcode=1992SSRv...61..145T |doi=10.1007/BF00212481 |issn=1572-9672 |s2cid=189790437 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082500/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00212481 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |access-date=2022-03-19 |bibcode-access=free|url-access=subscription }} The ideas continued to face resistance though some passive cooling was incorporated into the design of the {{Convert|0.85|m|ft|abbr=on}} diameter Spitzer Space Telescope launched in 2003. The ideas were later adopted in full for the {{Convert|6.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} diameter James Webb Space Telescope launched in 2021.{{Cite book |last=Mather |first=John C. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/890007538 |title=Nobel Lectures in Physics, 2006-2010 |publisher=World Scientific Publishing |others=Nobelstiftelsen |year=2014 |isbn=978-981-4612-69-2 |location=Singapore |pages=14 |language=En |chapter=John C. Mather |oclc=890007538 |author-link=John C. Mather |access-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082457/https://www.worldcat.org/title/nobel-lectures-in-physics-2006-2010/oclc/890007538 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |url-status=live}}

In 2010 Hawarden was posthumously awarded the NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal for his work on passive cooling techniques, the award citing "the breakthrough concepts that made possible the James Webb Space Telescope and its successors". The award was accepted on behalf of Hawarden's widow Frances by the Nobel-laureate physicist John C. Mather.

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Category:Astrophysicists

Category:1943 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:South African astronomers

Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society

Category:University of Cape Town alumni

Category:South African emigrants to the United Kingdom

Category:People from Mossel Bay

Category:20th-century astronomers

Category:21st-century astronomers