Ernst Kunibert Zinner (30 January 1937 – 30 July 2015) was an Austrian astrophysicist, known for his pioneering work in the analysis of stardust in the laboratory.
Although his father, Kunibert Zinner, was a renowned sculptor, Ernst was more interested as a boy in nature and science.
While on sabbatical later in his career, he met Brigitte Wopenka, a faculty member of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry in Vienna.
[3] Zinner was instrumental in identifying, for the first time, material in meteorites that pre-dated the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.
[5][6] Zinner and his colleagues found minute amounts of stardust - diamond and silicon carbide - that originated outside the solar system.
[7] Identification of these grains involved a measurement technique called secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).
[9][10] After his death, his family established an "Ernst Zinner Scholarship Fund" to support advanced cello students in the Community Music School at Webster University.