Giacconi, Riccardo (1931- )

Italian-born US physicist, the head of a team whose work has been fundamental in the development of X-ray astronomy. In 1970 they launched a satellite devoted entirely to X-ray astronomy. Giacconi was born in Genoa on October 6, 1931, and obtained his doctorate from Milan. He emigrated to the USA 1956. In 1959 he joined American Science and Engineering, Inc., rising to executive vice president 1969. In 1973 he was made professor of astronomy at Harvard University. Later he became director of the European Southern Observatory. In 1962, a rocket sent up by Giacconi and his group to observe secondary spectral emission from the Moon detected strong X-rays from a source evidently located outside the Solar System. X-ray research has since led to the discovery of many types of stellar and interstellar material. Giacconi's team have developed a telescope capable of producing X-ray images. Giacconi has also worked with a Cherenkov detector, by means of which it is possible to observe the existence and velocity of high-speed particles.