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{{short description|20th and 21st-century Polish astronomer}}
{{Infobox_Scientist
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Aleksander Wolszczan | name = Aleksander Wolszczan
| image = Aleksander Wolszczan.jpg|300px | image = Aleksander_Wolszczan_(2007).jpg
| caption = Wolszczan in 2007
| image_width = 200px
⚫ | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|4|29|df=y}}
| caption = Aleksander Wolszczan at ]
⚫ | birth_place = ], ]
⚫ | birth_date = April 29, 1946
⚫ | birth_place = ], ]
| death_date = | death_date =
| death_place = | death_place =
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| doctoral_students = | doctoral_students =
| known_for = Discovery of the first ]s and ]s | known_for = Discovery of the first ]s and ]s
| societies = ], ] <!-- unknown param: | societies = ], ] -->
| prizes = ] <small>(1992)</small><br />] <small>(1996)</small><br />] <small>(1997)</small> ] <small>(2001)</small><br/>] Medal <small>(2017)</small>
| prizes = Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize
| spouse = | spouse =
| children = | children =
| religion =
| website = | website =
| footnotes = | footnotes =
}} }}
'''Aleksander Wolszczan''' {{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-Aleksander_Wolszczan.ogg|a|l|e|k|'|s|a|n|d|e|r|-|'|w|o|l|sz|cz|a|n}} (born 29 April 1946) is a Polish ]. He is the co-discoverer of the first confirmed ]s and ]s. He is a graduate of the ] and works as a professor at the ].


Wolszczan is a fellow of the ], the ] and the ]. He is also the recipient of numerous awards for his groundbreaking contributions in the field of astronomy including ], ] and the ] of the ].
'''Aleksander Wolszczan''' ({{pronounced|alɛk'sandɛr 'vɔlʂt͡ʂan}}, {{audio|Pl-aleksander-wolszczan.ogg|listen}}) (] ] in ], ]) is a ] ]. He was the discoverer of the first ]s and ]s.


== Early life and education ==
== Biography ==
]
Educated in Poland (at the ]), Wolszczan moved in 1982 to the ] to work at ] in ] and ]. Later he became an astronomy professor at the ]. Concurrent with that appointment, since 1994 he has been a professor at the ] and a member of the ] (PAN).
Wolszczan was born on 29 April 1946 in ] located in present-day ], Poland; in the 1950s his family moved to ]. His father Jerzy Wolszczan taught economics at former Szczecin Polytechnic (currently ]) and his mother, Zofia, worked for the ]. His early interest in ] was inspired by his father who told him stories and myths connected with stellar ]s. As a seven-year-old he already learned the basics of astronomy. He observed the night sky using a small telescope he constructed himself.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://absolwent.umk.pl/o_absolwentach/sylwetki/aleksander-wolszczan |title=Aleksander Wolszczan |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107112126/https://absolwent.umk.pl/o_absolwentach/sylwetki/aleksander-wolszczan |archive-date=7 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He graduated from Stefan Czarniecki VI High School in Szczecin.


== Scientific career ==
Working with ], he carried out astronomical observations from the ] which led them to the discovery of the ] ] 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 ]'s mass. Their orbits are 0.36 and 0.47 ] respectively. This ] was the first extra-solar system discovered in the Universe whose existence was proved.
Wolszczan sat for an ] in 1969 and a ] in 1975 at the ], ]. Between 1969 and 1973 he worked at the Department of ] of the Institute of Astronomy. In 1973, as a senior assistant, he moved to ] for training at the ]. From 1979 to 1982 he worked at the Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in ], and in 1982 he moved to the ] to work at ] and ]. Later he became an astronomy professor at ]. From 1994 to 2008, he was also professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University. He is a member of the ].


Working with ], Wolszczan carried out astronomical observations from the ] in ] that led them to the discovery of the ] ] in 1990.<ref name=":0" /> On 9 January 1992<ref name="Wolszczan">{{Cite journal |last1=Wolszczan |first1=A. |last2=Frail |first2=D. A. |year=1992 |title=A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257 + 12 |journal=Nature |volume=355 |issue=6356 |pages=145–147 |bibcode=1992Natur.355..145W |doi=10.1038/355145a0 |s2cid=4260368}}</ref> they discovered 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 ] respectively. This was the first confirmed discovery of planets outside the ] (as of 2 June 2021, 4,401 such planets were known).<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=NASA Exoplanet Archive|url=http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/|access-date=6 October 2017}}</ref> Wolszczan announced his findings in 1992 during the Meeting of the ] in ]. Two years later he published the results of his discovery and was chosen by the journal '']'' 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 ] called it "the greatest discovery by a Polish astronomer since ]."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/rsolecki/aleksander_wolszczan.html |title=Prominent Poles |access-date=13 April 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060156/http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/rsolecki/aleksander_wolszczan.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> In 1998, '']'' magazine included his discovery among The 25 Greatest Astronomical Findings of All Time.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/68 |title=The 25 Greatest Astronomical Findings of All Time |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413234908/https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/68 |archive-date=13 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the Arecibo Observatory, Wolszczan also collaborated with ] and conducted research on ]s.
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 2003 ] 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 1996, Wolszczan was awarded the ] by the ], and in 2002, he was pictured on a Polish postage stamp.


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, ], orbiting star ].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://poland.pl/science/famous-scientists/prof-aleksander-wolszczan/ |title=Prof. Aleksander Wolszczan |access-date=14 April 2017 |archive-date=6 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006162349/https://poland.pl/science/famous-scientists/prof-aleksander-wolszczan/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
⚫ In 2003 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 2012, Matthew Route and Wolszczan detected bursts of radio waves emitted from ] using ]. This T6.5 ] has a temperature of 800-900 K, making it the coolest known radio-emitting substellar object.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Route|first1=M.|last2=Wolszczan|first2=A.|title=The Arecibo Detection of the Coolest Radio-flaring Brown Dwarf|journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters|date=10 March 2012|volume=747|issue=2|page=L22|doi=10.1088/2041-8205/747/2/L22|arxiv=1202.1287|bibcode=2012ApJ...747L..22R|s2cid=119290950}}</ref> Its magnetic field is stronger than 1.7 kG. In 2016, the team discovered the most rapidly rotating brown dwarf, the T6 ].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Route|first1=M.|last2=Wolszczan|first2=A.|title=Radio-flaring from the T6 Dwarf WISEPC J112254.73+255021.5 with A Possible Ultra-short Periodicity|journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters|date=20 April 2016|volume=821|issue=2|page=L21|doi=10.3847/2041-8205/821/2/L21|arxiv=1604.04543|bibcode=2016ApJ...821L..21R|s2cid=118478221 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Its rotation period may be as little as 17 minutes. In 2017, he was awarded the ] Medal conferred by the ].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.pta.edu.pl/prasa/pta1705 |language = pl |title=Profesor Aleksander Wolszczan laureatem Medalu Bohdana Paczyńskiego |date = 12 September 2017 | access-date = 9 January 2022}}</ref>
According to "Gazeta Polska" (17.09.2009), between 1973 and 1988 prof. Wolszczan cooperated with Polish communist secret police (SB - Służba Bezpieczeństwa) as TW "Lange".<ref>http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1507891,2677,1,1,lange,kioskart.html</ref>

Wolszczan is a member of many scientific associations which include: the ], ], ], ], ], and ].

== Recognition ==

At Pennsylvania State University, Wolszczan held the Evan Pugh Professorship of Astronomy and Astrophysics.<ref>{{cite news |title=Vagabond planets may be drifting in space |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2001/07/20/Vagabond-planets-may-be-drifting-in-space/7723995601600/ |access-date=1 December 2023 |work=United Press International |date=20 July 2001}}</ref> Upon retirement in 2024, he was awarded the title of Atherton Professor.<ref>{{cite news |title=Alexander Wolszczan named Atherton Professor |url=https://science.psu.edu/news/wolszczan-atherton-professor |access-date=1 December 2023 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Eberly College of Science}}</ref>

In 1992 Wolszczan won the ]. In 1996, he was awarded the ] by the ], and in 1997 ] ] presented him with the Commander's Cross of the ] 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 ]).<ref>{{cite web|title=Wolszczan Featured on Millennium Stamp Set with Pope John Paul, Lech Walesa, and Nicolaus Copernicus |work= www.science.psu.edu |publisher=] |date=18 February 2002 |url=http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Wolszczan2-2002.htm |access-date=6 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215180719/http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Wolszczan2-2002.htm |archive-date=15 February 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2006, Wolszczan officially became an honorary citizen of ]. In 2007, Jan Sosiński directed a ] film on the life and scientific work of Wolszczan entitled ''Gwiazdor - Aleksander Wolszczan''.

He was elected a Legacy Fellow of the ] in 2020.<ref> {{cite web|url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|title=AAS Fellows|publisher=AAS|access-date=1 October 2020}} </ref>

== Controversy ==
In 2008 '']'' disclosed that from 1973 until 1981 Wolszczan was an ] (codenamed "Lange") for the Polish communist-era ]. 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 ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetaprawna.pl/wiadomosci/artykuly/89499,rektor_umk_przyjal_rezygnacje_prof_wolszczana.html|title=Rektor UMK przyjął rezygnację prof. Wolszczana|date=13 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,Prof-Wolszczan-wybitny-astronom-kiepski-agent,wid,10370121,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=1f48b|title=Prof. Wolszczan - wybitny astronom, kiepski agent|first=Grupa Wirtualna|last=Polska|date=18 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/192162.html|title=Wolszczan agentem kontrwywiadu PRL?|access-date=4 October 2012|archive-date=24 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724030735/http://www.rp.pl/artykul/192162.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

⚫ ==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}


== References == == References ==
* *
* Wolszczan, A. ''Confirmation of Earth-mass planets orbiting the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12.'' Science 264(5158):538-42, April 22, 1994. * Wolszczan, A. ''Confirmation of Earth-mass planets orbiting the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12.'' Science 264(5158):538-42, 22 April 1994.
* *
* Maciej Marosz "Gazeta Polska", 17.09.2008

⚫ ==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]


==External links== ==External links==
* *
* *


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{{Persondata
|NAME= Wolszczan, Aleksander
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Polish ]
|DATE OF BIRTH= April 29, 1946
|PLACE OF BIRTH= ], ]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}


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Latest revision as of 08:21, 24 November 2024

20th and 21st-century Polish astronomer

Aleksander Wolszczan
Wolszczan in 2007
Born (1946-04-29) 29 April 1946 (age 78)
Szczecinek, Poland
NationalityPolish
Alma materNicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Known forDiscovery of the first extrasolar planets and pulsar planets
AwardsPrize of the Foundation for Polish Science (1992)
Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize (1996)
Order of Polonia Restituta (1997) Marian Smoluchowski Medal (2001)
Bohdan Paczyński Medal (2017)
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomer

Aleksander Wolszczan (born 29 April 1946) is a Polish astronomer. He is the co-discoverer of the first confirmed extrasolar planets and pulsar planets. He is a graduate of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and works as a professor at the Pennsylvania State University.

Wolszczan is a fellow of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. He is also the recipient of numerous awards for his groundbreaking contributions in the field of astronomy including Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science, Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize and the Marian Smoluchowski Medal of the Polish Physical Society.

Early life and education

Aleksander Wolszczan

Wolszczan was born on 29 April 1946 in Szczecinek located in present-day West Pomeranian Voivodeship, 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 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. in 1975 at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. 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 for training at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. From 1979 to 1982 he worked at the Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Toruń, and in 1982 he moved to the United States to work at Cornell University and Princeton. 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.

Working with Dale Frail, Wolszczan carried out astronomical observations from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico that led them to the discovery of the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in 1990. On 9 January 1992 they discovered 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 (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. Two years later he published the results of his discovery and was chosen by the journal Nature 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 called it "the greatest discovery by a Polish astronomer since Copernicus." In 1998, Astronomy 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 pulsars.

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 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 Medal conferred by the Polish Astronomical Society.

Wolszczan is a member of many scientific associations which include: the Polish Academy of Sciences, American Astronomical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, International Union of Radio Science, International Astronomical Union, and Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America.

Recognition

At Pennsylvania State University, Wolszczan held the Evan Pugh Professorship of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Upon retirement in 2024, he was awarded the title of Atherton Professor.

In 1992 Wolszczan won the Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science. In 1996, he was awarded the Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize by the American Astronomical Society, and in 1997 Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski 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).

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 1981 Wolszczan was an informant (codenamed "Lange") for the Polish communist-era Służba Bezpieczeństwa. 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.

See also

Notes

  1. "Aleksander Wolszczan". Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  2. ^ "NASA Exoplanet Archive". Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  3. Wolszczan, A.; Frail, D. A. (1992). "A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257 + 12". Nature. 355 (6356): 145–147. Bibcode:1992Natur.355..145W. doi:10.1038/355145a0. S2CID 4260368.
  4. "Prominent Poles". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  5. "The 25 Greatest Astronomical Findings of All Time". Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  6. "Prof. Aleksander Wolszczan". Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  7. Route, M.; Wolszczan, A. (10 March 2012). "The Arecibo Detection of the Coolest Radio-flaring Brown Dwarf". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 747 (2): L22. arXiv:1202.1287. Bibcode:2012ApJ...747L..22R. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/747/2/L22. S2CID 119290950.
  8. Route, M.; Wolszczan, A. (20 April 2016). "Radio-flaring from the T6 Dwarf WISEPC J112254.73+255021.5 with A Possible Ultra-short Periodicity". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 821 (2): L21. arXiv:1604.04543. Bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..21R. doi:10.3847/2041-8205/821/2/L21. S2CID 118478221.
  9. "Profesor Aleksander Wolszczan laureatem Medalu Bohdana Paczyńskiego" (in Polish). 12 September 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  10. "Vagabond planets may be drifting in space". United Press International. 20 July 2001. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. "Alexander Wolszczan named Atherton Professor". Pennsylvania State University Eberly College of Science. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  12. "Wolszczan Featured on Millennium Stamp Set with Pope John Paul, Lech Walesa, and Nicolaus Copernicus". www.science.psu.edu. Pennsylvania State University. 18 February 2002. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  13. "AAS Fellows". AAS. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  14. "Rektor UMK przyjął rezygnację prof. Wolszczana". 13 October 2008.
  15. Polska, Grupa Wirtualna (18 September 2008). "Prof. Wolszczan - wybitny astronom, kiepski agent".
  16. "Wolszczan agentem kontrwywiadu PRL?". Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2012.

References

External links

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