Biography
Maarten Schmidt cracked the mystery of quasars. In 1963 he realised that the strange spectrum of the radio source 3C 273 was ordinary hydrogen shifted far to the red, placing the object billions of light-years away — and meaning it shone with the light of trillions of suns. Quasars were thus revealed as the brilliant cores of distant active galaxies.
Scientific contributions
- Identified the enormous redshift of the quasar 3C 273 (1963)
- Revealed quasars as the most luminous objects in the universe
Major discoveries
Observatories, instruments & objects
Knowledge connections
- Part ofSpace Age Astronomy
- Worked atPalomar Observatory
- DiscoveredThe Discovery of Quasars
Sources & references
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica
General reference for the history of astronomy, biographies, and cultural context.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.