See Also: Jansky, Karl (Guthe)(encyclopedia)
Foucault pendulum(encyclopedia)
Jansky, Jan(medicine)
jansky(dictionary)
Jansky's classification(medicine)
Foucault(dictionary)
Jansky-Bielschowsky disease(medicine)
Foucault (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Foucault, Michel (Paul)(encyclopedia)
Foucault, Jean (-Bernard-Leon)(encyclopedia)

Jansky, Karl (Guthe) (sh) and Foucault pendulum (sh)


Jansky, Karl (Guthe) (sh)




born Oct. 22, 1905, Norman, Okla., U.S.
died Feb. 14, 1950, Red Bank, N.J.

U.S. engineer.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and went to work for Bell Telephone Laboratories. Assigned to track down sources of static that could interfere with radiotelephone communication, he discovered (1931) the first extraterrestrial source of Radio waves, emanating from the constellation Sagittarius in the direction of the Milky Way Galaxy's centre. The discovery proved that celestial bodies could emit Radio waves and marked the beginning of Radio astronomy.


Foucault pendulum (sh)




Large pendulum that is free to swing in any direction.

As it swings back and forth, the earth rotates beneath it, so its perpendicular plane of swing rotates in relation to the earth's surface. Devised by J.-B.-L. Foucault in 1851, it provided the first laboratory demonstration that the earth spins on its axis. A Foucault pendulum always rotates clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere (a consequence of the Coriolis force). The rate of rotation depends on the latitude, becoming slower as the pendulum is placed closer to the equator; at the equator, a Foucault pendulum does not rotate.