Stanton Peale Awarded Kuiper Prize Posthumously

Award Recipient: 

Stanton Peale

Award Date: 

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The late Stanton J. Peale, for whom asteroid 3612 was named, has been selected to receive "posthumously"  the American Astronomical Society's 2016 Gerard P. Kuiper Prize in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of planetary science. The award is presented by the society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS).

A professor emeritus of physics at UC Santa Barbara who died in May 2015, Peale is recognized for his "substantial and broad contributions, particularly in the areas of planetary dynamics, planetary interior and the search for extrasolar planetary systems." Peale's applications of rigorous mathematical modeling to understand the interiors of planets and moons led to the prediction that Jupiter's moon Io, discovered by Galileo, would exhibit active volcanic eruptions as a result of the action of tides.

Soon after his prediction, dramatic photographs sent back from the two Voyager missions in 1979 proved him right.
 

Stanton J. Peale Photo Credit: George Foulsham

News Date: 

Tuesday, May 10, 2016