Aleksander Wolszczan (b. 1946 in Szczecinek, Poland) is a Polish astronomer. Discoveror of first extrasolar planets and pulsar planets. Polish Wiki. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Szczecinek (Kashubian: Nowé Sztetëno, German: Neustettin) is a town in Middle Pomerania, north-western Poland with some 40,000 inhabitants. ... In ancient Greece and other early civilizations, astronomy consisted largely of astrometry, measuring positions of stars and planets in the sky. ... Infrared image of the star GQ Lupi (A) orbited by a planet (b) at a distance of approximately 20 times the distance between Jupiter and our Sun. ... Pulsar planets are planets that are found orbiting pulsars. ...

Biography

Educated in Poland he moved in 1982 to the USA to work at Cornell University in Ithaca and Princeton University. Later he became an astronomy professor at the Pennsylvania State University. Concurrent with that appointment, since 1994 he has been a professor at the University in Toruń and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of the name Cornell, see Cornell (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Ithaca Commons be merged into this article or section. ... For other Princetons, see Princeton. ... The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a prestigious state-related land-grant university in Pennsylvania, with over 80,000 students at 24 campuses throughout the state. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Nikolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Uniwersytet im Mikołaja Kopernika (UMK) w Toruniu) is one of the most respected universities in Poland. ... Categories: PAN | PAU | Scientific societies | Polish scientific societies | Stub | Education in Poland | Polish institutions | National academies ...

He carried out astronomical observations from the Arecibo Observatory which led him to the discovery of the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in 1990. The data analysis gathered thanks to the discovery showed that the pulsar is orbited by two planets with mass 3.4 and 2.8 times that of Earth's mass. Their orbits are 0.36 and 0.47 AU respectively. This planetary system was the first extra-solar system discovered in the Universe whose existence was proved. The Arecibo Observatory is located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico on the north coast of the island. ... Composite Optical/X-ray image of the Crab Nebula pulsar, showing surrounding nebular gases stirred by the pulsars magnetic field and radiation. ... PSR 1257+12 (also catalogued as PSR B1257+12,PSR 1300+1240 and PSR J1300+1240) is a pulsar located 2630 light years from Earth. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third planet outward from the Sun. ... An artists concept of a protoplanetary disk. ...

Wolszczan published his findings in 1992 and 1994. In spite of initial misgivings of some experts today his discovery is regarded as fully substantiated. 1991 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

In 1996, Wolszczan was awarded the Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize by the American Astronomical Society. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 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 American Astronomical Society (AAS) is a US society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The main aim of the AAS is provide a political voice for its members and organise their lobbying. ...

See also

• Pulsar planets
• Extrasolar planet
• List of stars with confirmed extrasolar planets

Pulsar planets are planets that are found orbiting pulsars. ... Infrared image of the star GQ Lupi (A) orbited by a planet (b) at a distance of approximately 20 times the distance between Jupiter and our Sun. ... The following are lists of stars with confirmed extrasolar planets. ...

External links

• Earth Sized Planets Confirmed