Maarten Schmidt

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Maarten Schmidt
Schmidt in 1978
Born(1929-12-28)28 December 1929
Groningen, Netherlands
Died17 September 2022(2022-09-17) (aged 92)
Fresno, California, U.S.
Nationality
  • American
  • Dutch
Alma materLeiden Observatory
Known forQuasars
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsCalifornia Institute of Technology
Doctoral advisorJan Oort

Maarten Schmidt (28 December 1929 – 17 September 2022) was a Dutch-born American astronomer who first measured the distances of quasars. He was the first astronomer to identify a quasar, and so was pictured on the March cover of Time magazine in 1966.

Early life

Schmidt was born in

Groningen, The Netherlands,[2] on 28 December 1929.[3] His father, Wilhelm, worked as an accountant for the Dutch government; his mother, Annie Wilhelmina (Haringhuizen), was a housewife. Schmidt studied math and physics at the University of Groningen, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1949 before obtaining a master's degree the following year. He then commenced doctoral studies at Leiden University under Jan Oort. Schmidt was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from Leiden Observatory in 1956.[3]

Career

After completing his doctorate, Schmidt resided in the United States for two years on a

reflector telescope at the Palomar Observatory, Schmidt identified the visible object corresponding to one of these radio sources, known as 3C 273 and also studied its spectrum. While its star-like appearance suggested it was relatively nearby, the spectrum of 3C 273 proved to have what was at the time a high redshift of 0.158, showing that it lay far beyond the Milky Way, and thus possessed an extraordinarily high luminosity. Schmidt termed 3C 273 a "quasi-stellar" object or quasar; thousands have since been identified.[3]

Schmidt was featured on the cover of Time magazine in March 1966.[3] He was later a co-recipient, with Donald Lynden-Bell, of the inaugural Kavli Prize for Astrophysics in 2008.[1]

He lectured a total of 33 times at the Summer Science Program. [6]

Personal life

Schmidt married Cornelia Tom in 1955. They met at a party hosted by Oort, and remained married until her death in 2020. Together, they had three daughters: Anne, Elizabeth, and Marijke.[3]

Schmidt died on 17 September 2022 at his home in Fresno, California. He was 92 years old.[3][7]

Honors

Awards

Named after him

  • 10430 Martschmidt[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c "2008 Kavli Prize Laureates in Astrophysics". www.kavliprize.org. 28 August 2008.
  2. JSTOR 3822873
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Risen, Clay (22 September 2022). "Maarten Schmidt, First Astronomer to Identify a Quasar, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  4. doi:10.1086/146614
    .
  5. S2CID 17323152
    .
  6. ^ https://summerscience.org/about/affiliates/
  7. ^ "Maarten Schmidt im Alter von 92 Jahren verstorben". Spiegel. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Caltech Mourns the Passing of Maarten Schmidt, 1929–2022". California Institute of Technology. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Maarten Schmidt – Mar. 11, 1966". Time. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
  10. ^ "Maarten Schmidt". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Maarten Schmidt". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  12. American Academy of Achievement
    .
  13. ^ "M. Schmidt". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  14. ^ "Maarten Schmidt". German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  15. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Gruppe 2: Fysikkfag (herunder astronomi, fysikk og geofysikk)" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  17. ^ "Maarten Schmidt". Sonoma State University. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
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