|
Wilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade (March 24 1893 - June 25 1960) was a German astronomer who emigrated to the USA in 1931.
Biography Along with Fritz Zwicky, he proposed that supernovae could create neutron stars. He took advantage of wartime blackout conditions during World War II, which reduced light pollution at Mount Wilson Observatory, to resolve stars in the center of the Andromeda galaxy for the first time, which led him to define distinct "populations" for stars (Population I and Population II). He discovered that there are two types of Cepheid variable stars, rogether with Fritz Zwicky identified supernovae as a new category of astronomical objects (W. Baade, F. Zwicky, 1934, "On Super-Novae". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 254-259.) and proposed the existence of neutron stars. He also identified the optical counterparts of various radio sources. He discovered 10 asteroids, including notably 944 Hidalgo (long orbital period) and the Apollo-class asteroid 1566 Icarus (whose perihelion is closer than that of Mercury) and the Amor asteroid 1036 Ganymed. Honors Awards Named after him Books Walter Baade: A Life in Astrophysics, Donald E. Osterbrock, ISBN 0-691-04936-X Obituaries | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
 |
|
| |