Bowen, I. S.

I.S. Bowen, in full Ira Sprague Bowen, (born Dec. 21, 1898, Seneca Falls, N.Y., U.S.—died Feb. 6, 1973, Los Angeles, Calif.), American astrophysicist whose explanation of the strong green emission from nebulae (clouds of rarefied gas) led to major advances in the study of celestial composition. This emission, which was unlike that characteristic of any known element, had previously been attributed to a hypothetical element, “nebulium.” Bowen showed, however, that the emission was identical with that calculated to be produced by ionized oxygen and nitrogen under extremely low pressure.

Bowen in 1926 joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, where he became a full professor in 1931. In 1946 he became director of the Mount Wilson Observatory and served as director of the Hale Observatories, which comprise Mt. Wilson and Palomar observatories, from 1948 until 1964. In 1938 Bowen invented the image slicer, a device that improves the efficiency of the slit spectrograph, which is used to break up light into its component colours for study. Bowen retired as observatory director in 1964, becoming a distinguished-service staff member.