Harold "Hal" Zirin was an American solar astronomer known as Captain Corona to a generation of Caltech Astronomy students.
14 Facts About Harold Zirin
1.
2.
Harold Zirin earned his Bachelor of Science from Harvard in Applied Physics and completed his Astronomy Ph.
3.
Harold Zirin moved to Colorado to work at the High Altitude Observatory, which specialized in solar research, in 1954, where he met his wife, Mary Noble Fleming, and married in 1957.
4.
Harold Zirin was fluent in several languages including German and Russian.
5.
Harold Zirin died on January 3,2012, after a prolonged battle with COPD.
6.
In 1953, Harold Zirin briefly worked for the RAND Corporation in southern California before returning to Harvard for a teaching fellowship.
7.
In 1954, Harold Zirin moved to Boulder, Colorado, to work at the High Altitude Observatory located in Climax, Colorado, which specialized in observing the sun.
8.
In 1964, Harold Zirin accepted his dream job of Astrophysics Professor at the California Institute of Technology.
9.
Entrepreneurial in spirit, with a small grant from Caltech and money from the Fleischmann Foundation, Harold Zirin built supporting facilities on shore, a dome on an island in the lake, and built the telescopes for observing.
10.
In 1967, Harold Zirin wrote the college text The Solar Atmosphere.
11.
In 1988, Harold Zirin wrote the college text Astrophysics of the Sun.
12.
Harold Zirin played a major role in solar research at the Caltech-operated Owens Valley Radio Observatory in the 1970s and helped develop a solar interferometer.
13.
Harold Zirin was active in planning for NASA's High Resolution Solar Observatory, which was never built.
14.
Harold Zirin was frequently interviewed by local and national media relating to solar activity or eclipses.