Charles Allen Whitney

Charles Allen Whitney was an American astrophysicist and professor at Harvard University. He was also a physicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Whitney was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and received his S.B. in physics from MIT, followed by his A.M. and Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard. His research included work on satellite tracking, Earth's upper atmosphere, and theoretical studies of pulsating stars, which contributed to later work on black holes. He also received a Guggenheim Fellowship to write a biography on Edwin Hubble. In his later years, he developed a love for drawing and painting. He passed away on May 22, 2017, at the age of 88.