Aleksander Wolszczan (born 29 April 1946) is a Polish
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
. He is the co-discoverer of the first confirmed
extrasolar planet
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...
s and
pulsar planet
Pulsar planets are planets that are found orbiting pulsars, or rapidly rotating neutron stars. The first such planets to be discovered were around a millisecond pulsar and were the first extrasolar planets to be confirmed as discovered.
History ...
s.
Early life and education
Wolszczan was born on 29 April 1946 in
Szczecinek
Szczecinek ( ; German until 1945: ''Neustettin'') is a historic city in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with a population of more than 40,000 (2011). Formerly in the Koszalin Voivodeship (1950–1998), it has been the capital of Szczecine ...
located in present-day
West Pomeranian Voivodeship
The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was ...
, Poland; in the 1950s his family moved to
Szczecin. His father Jerzy Wolszczan taught economics at former Szczecin Polytechnic (currently
West Pomeranian University of Technology) and his mother, Zofia, worked for the
Polish Writers' Union. His early interest in
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
was inspired by his father who told him stories and myths connected with stellar
constellations. As a seven-year-old he already learned the basics of astronomy. He observed the night sky using a small telescope he constructed himself. He graduated from Stefan Czarniecki VI High School in Szczecin.
Scientific career
Wolszczan sat for an
M.Sc. in 1969 and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1975 at the
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU ( pl, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473.Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. Between 1969 and 1973 he worked at the Department of
Radioastronomy of the Institute of Astronomy. In 1973, as a senior assistant, he moved to
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
for training at the
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
The Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfRA) (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie'') is located in Bonn, Germany. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft).
History
By com ...
. From 1979 to 1982 he worked at the Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in
Toruń
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, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
, pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...
, and in 1982 he moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to work at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
and
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
. Later he became an astronomy professor at
Pennsylvania State University. From 1994 to 2008, he was also professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University. He is a member of the
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society o ...
.
Working with
Dale Frail
Dale A. Frail is a Canadian astronomer working at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico.
Early life
He was born in Canada, spent much of his childhood in Europe, and his professional career has been based in the ...
, Wolszczan carried out astronomical observations from the
Arecibo Observatory in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
that led them to the discovery of the
pulsar PSR B1257+12
PSR B1257+12, previously designated PSR 1257+12, alternatively designated PSR J1300+1240, is a millisecond pulsar located 2,300 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Virgo, rotating at about 161 times per second (faster than ...
in 1990. In 1992 they showed that the pulsar was orbited by two planets, whose masses were initially assessed at 3.4 and 2.8 times Earth's mass. The radii of their orbits are 0.36 and 0.47
AU respectively. This was the first confirmed discovery of planets outside the
Solar System
The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
(as of 2 June 2021, 4,401 such planets were known). Wolszczan announced his findings in 1992 during the Meeting of the
American Astronomical Society in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. Two years later he published the results of his discovery and was chosen by the journal ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' as the author of one of 15 fundamental discoveries in the field of physics. Despite some initial misgivings by several experts, today his discovery is regarded as fully substantiated. Astronomer
Bohdan Paczyński
Bohdan Paczyński or Bohdan Paczynski (8 February 1940 – 19 April 2007) was a Polish astronomer notable in the theory of the stellar evolution, accretion discs, and gamma ray bursts.
Life
Paczyński was born on 8 February 1940 in Vilnius, L ...
called it "the greatest discovery by a Polish astronomer since
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...
." In 1998, ''
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
'' magazine included his discovery among The 25 Greatest Astronomical Findings of All Time. At the Arecibo Observatory, Wolszczan also collaborated with
Joseph H. Taylor Jr and conducted research on
millisecond pulsar
A millisecond pulsar (MSP) is a pulsar with a rotational period less than about 10 milliseconds. Millisecond pulsars have been detected in radio, X-ray, and gamma ray portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The leading theory for the origin of ...
s.
In 2003
Maciej Konacki and Wolszczan determined the orbital inclinations of the two pulsar planets, showing that the actual masses were approximately 3.9 and 4.3 Earth masses respectively.
In 2007, Wolszczan was also part of a Polish team of astronomers led by Andrzej Niedzielski that found yet another planet outside the Solar System,
HD 17092 b, orbiting star
HD 17092.
In 2012, Matthew Route and Wolszczan detected bursts of radio waves emitted from
2MASS J10475385+2124234 using
Arecibo Observatory. This T6.5
brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs (also called failed stars) are substellar objects that are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of ordinary hydrogen ( 1H) into helium in their cores, unlike a main-sequence star. Instead, they have a mass between the most ...
has a temperature of 800-900 K, making it the coolest known radio-emitting substellar object. Its magnetic field is stronger than 1.7 kG. In 2016, the team discovered the most rapidly rotating brown dwarf, the T6
WISEPC J112254.73+255021.5. Its rotation period may be as little as 17 minutes. In 2017, he was awarded the
Bohdan Paczyński
Bohdan Paczyński or Bohdan Paczynski (8 February 1940 – 19 April 2007) was a Polish astronomer notable in the theory of the stellar evolution, accretion discs, and gamma ray bursts.
Life
Paczyński was born on 8 February 1940 in Vilnius, L ...
Medal conferred by the
Polish Astronomical Society.
Wolszczan is a member of many scientific associations which include: the
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society o ...
,
American Astronomical Society,
American Association for the Advancement of Sciences
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...
,
International Union of Radio Science,
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
, and
Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America
The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) is a Polish-American scholarly institution headquartered in Manhattan (New York City), at 208 East 30th Street.
History
The Institute was founded during the height of World War II, in 1 ...
.
Recognition
In 1992 Wolszczan won the
Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science
The Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science () is the most prestigious scientific award in Poland given every year from 1992 by a non-governmental non-profit Polish organization, Foundation for Polish Science (). The prize is widely regarded a ...
. In 1996, he was awarded the
Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize
The Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize is awarded every other year by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of an outstanding research contribution to astronomy or astrophysics of an exceptionally creative or innovative character. The prize is na ...
by the
American Astronomical Society, and in 1997
Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule, he was active in the Socialist Union of Pol ...
presented him with the Commander's Cross of the
Order of Polonia Restituta for outstanding contributions to Polish science. In 2002, he appeared on a Polish postage stamp (as part of a series of 16 stamps, titled "Polish Millennium," which summarizes the last 1,000 years of history, culture, and science in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
).
In 2006, Wolszczan officially became an honorary citizen of
Szczecin. In 2007, Jan Sosiński directed a
documentary film on the life and scientific work of Wolszczan entitled ''Gwiazdor - Aleksander Wolszczan''.
He was elected a Legacy Fellow of the
American Astronomical Society in 2020.
Controversy
In 2008 ''
Gazeta Prawna'' disclosed that from 1973 until 1988 Wolszczan was an
informant
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informant ...
(codenamed "Lange") for the Polish communist-era
Służba Bezpieczeństwa
The Ministry of Public Security ( pl, Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), commonly known as UB or later SB, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it w ...
. He confirmed this, but stressed that he was passing only unimportant information, usually publicly known, and that he did not harm anybody. The resulting controversy in Polish media resulted in his resignation from
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU ( pl, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473.Timeline of Polish science and technology
Education has been of prime interest to Poland's rulers since the early 12th century. The catalog of the library of the Cathedral Chapter in Kraków dating from 1110 shows that Polish scholars already then had access to western European literature. ...
*
Bohdan Paczyński
Bohdan Paczyński or Bohdan Paczynski (8 February 1940 – 19 April 2007) was a Polish astronomer notable in the theory of the stellar evolution, accretion discs, and gamma ray bursts.
Life
Paczyński was born on 8 February 1940 in Vilnius, L ...
*
Andrzej Udalski
Andrzej Jarosław Udalski (born 22 January 1957 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish people, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist, and director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw. He is also head of the Department of Observat ...
*
OGLE
Ogle may refer to:
Places
* Ogle County, Illinois, United States
* Original name of Ashton, Illinois, a village
* Ogle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community
* Ogle Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States
* Ogle, N ...
*
List of Poles
This is a partial list of notable Polish or Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited.
Science
Physics
* Czesław Białobrzeski
* Andrzej Buras
* Georges Charpa ...
Notes
References
Wolszczan, A., and D.A. Frail. ''A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR 1257+12.'' Nature 355(6356):145-7, January 9, 1992.* Wolszczan, A. ''Confirmation of Earth-mass planets orbiting the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12.'' Science 264(5158):538-42, 22 April 1994.
Konacki, M. and Wolszczan, A. ''Masses and Orbital Inclinations of Planets in the PSR B1257+12 System'' Astrophysical Journal, Volume 591, Issue 2, pp. L147-L150, 2003.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolszczan, Aleksander
1946 births
Living people
People from Szczecinek
20th-century Polish astronomers
Radio astronomers
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń alumni
Pennsylvania State University faculty
Cornell University faculty
Winners of the Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize
Discoverers of exoplanets
Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta
21st-century Polish astronomers
Fellows of the American Astronomical Society