AKA Bernard Ferdinand Lyot

Born: 27-Feb-1897
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: 2-Apr-1952
Location of death: Cairo, Egypt
Cause of death: unspecified

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Astronomer, Physicist

Nationality: France
Executive summary: Sandstorms on Mars

French solar physicist Bernard Lyot invented the coronagraph, a telescope that mimics the effects of a solar eclipse, blocking the brightness at the Sun's photosphere and thus allowing close observation of the Sun's corona and prominences. He also invented the Lyot filter, an optical filter that uses birefringence, and the Lyot stop, a defraction reduction system. His precise yet compact optical instruments provided the first conclusive evidence that sandstorms blow across the surface of Mars, and showed the lunar surface behaves in a manner similar to earthly volcanic dust.

    University: BS, L'École Supérieure d'Électricité (1918)
    Teacher: École Polytechnique (1918-29)
    University: PhD, University of Paris (1920)
    Scholar: Meudon Observatory (1920-43)
    Administrator: Director of Meudon Observatory (1943-52)

    Henry Draper Medal 1951
    Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal 1939
    Bruce Medal 1947
    French Academy of Sciences
    International Astronomical Union
    Asteroid Namesake 2452 Lyot

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