John V. Evans
Astronomer

John V. Evans

The basics
Quick facts
Intro
Astronomer
A.K.A.
John Evans
Gender:
Male
Work field:
Birth:
5 July 1933
Star sign:
Education:
University of Manchester
The details
Biography

John V. Evans (born 5 July 1933) is a British-American radio astronomer born in Manchester, England. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Manchester, and has been a professor at the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1960.

He received the 1975 Appleton Prize.

Evans showed how long-period lunar echo fading could be used to measure the ionospheric electron density. William Smith used Long Michelson interferometer observations of sources to do the same. He also showed that lunar scattering was limb-darkened. With G. N. Taylor, he bounced radar echoes off Venusin September 1959. He has performed radar studies of the Moon, Venus, etc. He also worked on detecting Sputnik 1 with Jodrell Bank. He co-authored with T. Hagfors the classic textbook of Radar Astronomy.