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Aleksander Wolszczan
Aleksander Wolszczan at Piwnice radio observatory
Aleksander Wolszczan at Piwnice radio observatory
Born April 29, 1946
Szczecinek, Poland
Nationality Polish
Fields Astronomer
Alma mater Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Known for Discovery of the first extrasolar planets and pulsar planets
Notable awards Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize

Aleksander Wolszczan (pronounced [alɛk'sandɛr 'vɔlʂt͡ʂan], listen (help·info)) (Apr 29, 1946 in Szczecinek, Poland) is a Polish astronomer. He was the discoverer of the first extrasolar planets and pulsar planets.

Contents

Scientific career

Educated in Poland (MSc in 1969 and PhD in 1975 at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń), Wolszczan moved in 1982 to the U.S. to work at Cornell University in Ithaca and Princeton University. Later he became an astronomy professor at the Pennsylvania State University. Concurrent with that appointment, from 1994 to 2008 he was a professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Working with Dale Frail, he carried out astronomical observations from the Arecibo Observatory which led them to the discovery of the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in 1990. The data analysis gathered thanks to the discovery showed that the pulsar is orbited by two planets with masses at least 3.4 and 2.8 times that of Earth's mass. Their orbits are 0.36 and 0.47 AU respectively. This planetary system was the first extra-solar system discovered in the Universe whose existence was proved.

Wolszczan and Frail published their findings in 1992 and 1994. In spite of initial misgivings of some experts, today this discovery is regarded as fully substantiated.

In 1996, Wolszczan was awarded the Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize by the American Astronomical Society, and in 2002, he was pictured on a Polish postage stamp. [1]

In 2003 Maciej Konacki and Wolszczan determined the orbital inclinations of the two planets, showing that the actual masses are approximately 3.9 and 4.3 Earth masses.

In 2008 he was one of the candidates for the Nobel Prize in Physics.1

Involvement with the security service

On September 17, 2008 Wolszczan acknowledged earlier allegations that from 1973 until 1988 he had been a paid informer of the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Służba Bezpieczeństwa), the secret police of the former People's Republic of Poland.2

References

Notes

  1. ^ Polish astronomer to receive Nobel Prize? 2008-10-06
  2. ^ "Wolszczan: nie wstydzę się" (in Polish), Onet.pl. 

See also

External links


Persondata
NAME Wolszczan, Aleksander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Polish Astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Szczecinek, Poland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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