Raymond Neil Wilson (23 March 1928 – 16 March 2018)[1] was an English
physicist and telescope optics designer, best known for pioneering the use of
active optics in large telescopes.[2]
In 1972 he became Head of the Optics and Telescopes Group [4]
at the European Southern Observatory (
ESO), where he worked for the next 21 years, first in
Geneva and then in
Garching, Germany.
His major contributions have been in telescope optics and technology. In particular, he developed the concept of
active optics, which is now the basic principle on which modern large telescopes are constructed. The concept of active optics was developed first in ESO's
New Technology Telescope (first light 1988), and then in ESO's
Very Large Telescope (VLT).[4] (first light 1998).
Wilson retired in 1993, writing a two-volume monograph Reflecting Telescope Optics, a leading work in the field. He also extended the design of large telescopes to the next-generation designs that use three, four, and five mirrors.[4]
Wilson's other interests included history, economics, cosmology and biology.[3]
On his retirement in September 1993, the Themistian asteroid
3790 Raywilson was named in his honor. The name was proposed by
Lutz Schmadel and endorsed by the Heidelberg Observatory, where the asteroid had been discovered by
Karl Reinmuth 56 years earlier.[2]