What was the subject of astronomer Fred Whipple's 'Dirty Snowball' hypothesis?
Fred Lawrence Whipple encounter with Halley's Comet, in 1986. Whipple died in 2004, aged 97. Awards Named after him Fred Lawrence Whipple Fred Lawrence Whipple (November 5, 1906 – August 30, 2004) was an American astronomer, who worked at the Harvard College Observatory for over 70 years. Amongst his achievements, asteroid and comet discovery, had come up with the "dirty snowball" cometary hypothesis, and invented the Whipple shield. Whipple was born on November 5, 1906, in Red Oak, Iowa, as the son of a farmer. An early bout with polio ended his ambition of being a professional tennis player. Whipple studied at Occidental
Whipple (crater) polar region of the Moon. Whipple was adopted and named after American astronomer Fred Lawrence Whipple by the IAU in 2009. Whipple (crater) Whipple is a lunar impact crater located on the lunar far side near the northern pole. The crater is located East of the prominent craters Byrd and Peary; the latter of which it is located on the rim of. Whipple is permanently shaded from the Sun. Volatile species of atoms and molecules, such as water (and mercury), that enter the crater freeze, and thus get trapped due to the extremely cold conditions that prevail within the crater.