Photo courtesy: Arthur Brower/New York Times.

Ken Franklin, DTM Research Fellow during 1954-1956, passed away on 18 June in Boulder, Colo., at the age of 84. Along with former staff member Bernard F. Burke, Franklin co-discovered radio emissions from Jupiter in 1955.

Franklin earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1953, just prior to joining DTM. He became an Assistant Astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in 1956 and went on to hold several positions there including Chief Scientist for 28 years. He was chairman of the planetarium and the Department of Astronomy, now the Department of Astrophysics, of the museum from 1972 to 1974.

Throughout his career, Franklin was frequently consulted by industries involved in the space program as well as the news media. He was often interviewed on local and national radio and television. Franklin was an on-camera astronomy expert for the NBC coverage of the first Moon landing in 1969, appearing with the late Frank McGee. Click here for the New York Times obituary. For more information on radio astronomy at DTM, click here.