Aleksander Wolszczan

Aleksander Wolszczan ( listen? / I ) (* 1946 in Szczecinek, Poland) is a Polish astronomer. He is the discoverer of the first extrasolar planets and pulsar planets.

Biography

Wolszczan studied at the University Toruń and then worked there as a research assistant. In 1975 he received his PhD in 1982 and moved to the U.S. at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and Princeton University to work. Since 1994 he is professor at the University Toruń, and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Along with Dale Frail he made astronomical observations from the Arecibo Observatory, which led to the discovery of the pulsar PSR B1257 12 in 1990. The data analysis of the discovery showed that the pulsar is orbited by two planets at least 3.4 and 2.8 Earth masses. The orbits amount to 0.36 and 0.47 astronomical units. This planetary system was the first out of the solar system, which was detected in the universe.

Wolszczan Frail and published their results in 1992 and 1994. Though there was much criticism of the publication at the beginning, it is now widely recognized.

In 1996 Wolszczan the Beatrice M. Tinsley - Prize of the American Astronomical Society in 2002 and was to see his picture on a Polish stamp.

In 2003, certain Maciej Konacki and Wolszczan the orbital inclination of the two planets, and thus showed that their masses are about 3.9 and 4.3 Earth masses.

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