Maarten schmidt biography of mahatma

Dutch-American astronomer (1929–2022)

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 Carnegie Fellow