Maarten Schmidt

Maarten Schmidt (born December 28, 1929) is a Dutch-American astronomer who measured the distances of quasars.He died in 2022.

Born in Groningen, The Netherlands,[2] Schmidt studied with Jan Hendrik Oort. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Leiden Observatory in 1956. He was a co-recipient, with Donald Lynden-Bell, of the inaugural Kavli Prize for Astrophysics in 2008.[1]

In 1959, he emigrated to the United States and went to work at the California Institute of Technology. In the beginning, he worked on theories about the mass distribution and dynamics of galaxies. Of particular note from this period was his formulation of what has become known as the Schmidt law, which relates the density of interstellar gas to the rate of star formation occurring in that gas.[3][4] He later began a study of the light spectra of radio sources. In 1963, using the 200-inch 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.
Awards

Helen B. Warner Prize (1964)
Front cover of Time March 11, 1966 [5]
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1969)[6]
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1978)
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1978)[7]
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1980)
Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1980)[8]
Correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1980)[9]
James Craig Watson Medal (1991)
Bruce Medal (1992)
Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (1995)[10]
Member of the American Philosophical Society (2000)[11]
Kavli Prize for Astrophysics (2008)[1]
Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[12]
Named after him

Asteroid 10430 Martschmidt
Later in life, Schmidt could be found having dinner at Celestino restaurant in Pasadena with his wife, Cornelia (Corrie),recalls Ellis. "When Maarten won the 'big prize,' the inaugural Kavli award jointly with Donald Lynden-Bell, Corrie, announced that she had decided with such a magnificent financial prize she saw no reason to continue to cook for Maarten!" says Ellis. "Accordingly, they set up a near-permanent dining arrangement every night at Celestino. Like many, I often dined there and saw Maarten and Corrie in the distance and often went to say hello." Sargent adds, "Eventually visiting astronomers who couldn't find Maarten on campus were told to go to Celestino."

Schmidt was married to Corrie Schmidt-Tom for 65 years. She passed away in 2020. He is survived by his three daughters: Elizabeth, Marijke, and Anne, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.