Henri chretien biography

Henri Chrétien, a French optician and astronomer, was born Feb. 2, 1879.  Chrétien is known for two rather different achievements, although both were a product of his expertise in optics.  First of all, he designed a telescope lens system that is now the most widely used in the world for large telescopes.  He was working at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the early 1910s, with a superb telescope technician named George Ritchey, and the two of them figured out how to take an old design, the Cassegrain telescope, which uses hyperbolic mirrors, and improve it by introducing a third corrective lens or mirror.  There are many optical effects that cause a telescope image to suffer – they have names like spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism – and the new Ritchey-Chrétien design design eliminated most of these.  In addition, it had a wide field of view and was relatively compact.

Ritchey, who worked at Mount Wilson, tried to get George Ellery Hale to adopt the design for the 100" reflector at Mount Wilson and the 200" at Mount Palomar, but he failed to convince his boss and left in a huff.  However, the Ritchey-Chrétien telescope was a superior design, and it was eventually adopted by most of the world’s large telescopes, including the most famous telescope in the world, the Hubble space telescope.

Chrétien's other notable optical contribution was in cinema.  In the 1920s, he began to experiment with anamorphic lenses, and by 1937 he had one, which he called a Hypergonar lens.  An anamorphic lens distorts an image with a purpose.  In the case of the Hypergonar lens, i

Henri Jacques Chrétien (1 February 1879, Paris – 6 February 1956, Washington, D.C.) was a French astronomer and an inventor.

Born in Paris, France, his most famous inventions are:
- the anamorphic widescreen process, using an anamorphic lens system called Hypergonar, that resulted in the CinemaScope widescreen technique, and
- the co-invention, with George Willis Ritchey, of the Ritchey–Chrétien telescope, an improved type of astronomicaltelescope, employing a system now used in virtually all large research telescopes.

He spent part of his early astronomical career at the Nice Observatory, which was close to his house, the Villa Paradou. The Villa was built by famous French architect Charles Garnier who also built the Opera of Paris. In 1995, the abandoned villa was acquired by the artist Rainer Maria Latzke, who restored it and added new murals to the existing frescoes.

Chrétien was one of the founders of the Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée and professor at the French "grande école" SupOptique (École supérieure d'optique).

Awards and honors

• The astronomical Chrétien International Research Grants awards are in honor of him
• In 1901, Chrétien, Joseph Joachim Landerer and Thomas David Anderson jointly received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (French Astronomical Society).
• Valz Prize from the French Academy of Sciences (1931)
• The crater Chrétien on the Moon is named in his honor.
• In 1955, he received an Academy Award for his work on the CinemaScope process.

See also

In Spanish: Henri Chrétien para niños

French astronomer (1879–1956)

Henri Jacques Chrétien (French pronunciation:[ɑ̃ʁiʒakkʁetjɛ̃]; 1 February 1879, Paris – 6 February 1956, Washington, D.C.) was a French astronomer and an inventor.

Born in Paris, France, his most famous inventions are:
- the anamorphicwidescreen process, using an anamorphic lens system called Hypergonar, that resulted in the CinemaScopewidescreen technique, and
- the co-invention, with George Willis Ritchey, of the Ritchey–Chrétien telescope, an improved type of astronomicaltelescope, employing a system now used in virtually all large research telescopes.

He spent part of his early astronomical career at the Nice Observatory, which was close to his house, the Villa Paradou. The Villa was built by famous French architect Charles Garnier who also built the Nice Observatory and both the operas of Paris and Monaco. In 1995, the abandoned villa was acquired by the artist Rainer Maria Latzke, who restored it and added new murals to the existing frescoes.

Chrétien was one of the founders of the Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée and professor at the French "grande école" SupOptique (École supérieure d'optique).

Awards and honors

Publications

References

Henri Chrétien (* 1. Februar1879 in Paris; † 6. Februar1956 in Washington) war ein französischer Astronom, Professor und Erfinder.

Leben

Der Anfang seiner beruflichen Karriere lag am Observatoire de Nice. Ein Teil dieses Observatoriums – der „Pavillon Henri Chretien“ (PHC) – ist heute nach ihm benannt. Er lebte in dem von Charles Garnier, dem Architekten der Pariser Oper, erbauten Anwesen „Villa Paradou“ unterhalb des Observatoriums auf dem Mont Gros. Sein Freund Gustave Eiffel entwarf einen kuppelartigen Pavillon für den großzügigen Park. Die zum Anwesen führende Straße über Nizza wurde nach seinem Tod in „Avenue Professeur Henri Chrétien“ umbenannt. Er bestimmte in seinem Testament die Amerikanische Astronomische Gesellschaft (AAS) zum Erben des Anwesens mit einer Hauptvilla und einer weiteren Gästevilla. Obwohl das Anwesen aufgrund seiner Lage und seines prominenten Erbauers zum Monument historique ernannt wurde und wegen seiner Lage auch einen großen Wert besaß, wurde es von der AAS nicht benutzt und verwahrloste, obwohl mehrfach Anstrengungen der Stadt oder von örtlichen Vereinen unternommen wurden, das Gelände zu einem Denkmal für Henri Chrétien und einem astronomischen Museum auszubauen.

Erfindungen

Henri Chrétien ist der Erfinder der Hypergonar-Linse, auch bekannt als Anamorphot („Anamorphoskop“), die es ermöglicht, ein Breitbild so zu verzerren, dass es während des Filmens in einen Standardrahmen passt und später bei der Projektion wieder ein Breitbild ergibt. Chrétien machte diese Erfindung bereits 1927. Im darauffolgenden Jahr nutzte der Filmemacher Claude Autant-Lara die neue Linse, um seinen Kurzfilm „Construire un Feu“ zu drehen. Nach diesem Film geriet das Anamorphoskop in Vergessenheit. Erst als nach 25 Jahren Chrétiens Patente abgelaufen waren, interessierten sich plötzlich die amerikanischen Studios für seine Optiken.

Die Notwendigkeit, Film