Nelson James Terrell (August 15, 1923–March 21, 2009)[1] was an US physicist and scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. James Terrell worked in relativity and astrophysics. The Terrell rotation, an image distortion of objects travelling near the speed of light, is named after him.[2]
Life
Nelson James Terrell Jr. was born in Houston, Texas in 1923.[1]
James Terrell did his undergraduate studies Rice University.[2]
In 1945, he married Anne Elizabeth Pearson.[1][3] Together, they had a daughter.[3]
From 1945 to 1947, the army sent Terrell to Japan. When he came back, he finished his PhD at Rice University in 1950.[3] He worked on nuclear fission and the theory of relativity.[4]
He worked as assistant professor at Western Reserve University,[4] and later joined Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1951.[2][4]
Terrell was member of the International Astronomical Union.[5]
He died in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 2009.[1]
Research
In 1957 he started publishing works on length contraction. He discovered that the appearance of objects looks rotated at large speed, as predicted by special relativity. This is now known as the Terrell rotation or Terrell effect.[2]
In 1966, he studied quasars. He postulated that quasars were originally ejected from the center of galaxies.[2][6] This conjecture was the matter of international debate.[2]
In the 1970s he worked on analysing the x-ray data of Cygnus X-1, a black hole candidate,[4] and worked on the x-ray data from the Vela B satellite. He produced a movie of the sky depicting dying stars, quasars, and black holes.[2][7]
He also worked on solving the diffraction problem of high intensity lasers.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d Glenn, Justin (2014-09-05). The Washingtons. Volume 6, Part 2: Generation Ten of the Presidential Branch. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-940669-58-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lyons, Jean Terrell (2010-12-28). "Obituary of Nelson James Terrell". doi:10.1063/PT.4.1900.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b c Michon, Gerard. "Biographies of Scientists - Numericana". www.numericana.com. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
- ^ a b c d e Los Alamos Science. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. 1982.
- ^ "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
- ^ "Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
- ^ "MIT animation reveals the violent X-ray sky with unprecedented clarity". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2000-01-13. Retrieved 2025-03-08.