Jan Schilt
Encyclopedia
Jan Schilt was a Dutch-American astronomer
, inventor of the Schilt photometer
.
. He emigrated to the United States in 1933 as the Chair of Columbia University
's astronomy department, a position which he filled until his retirement in 1962, when he was granted the title of Rutherford Professor of Astronomy Emeritus.
Schilt's astronomical work included the invention of the Schilt photometer
, a device which measures the light output of stars, and, indirectly, their distances. He worked on the motions of star streams in the Milky Way Galaxy, and was director of the Yale-Columbia Southern Station in Johannesberg
and Canberra
, as well as Director of the Rutherfurd Observatory at Columbia.
Schilt was noted at Columbia for walking into his classes the first day after the launch of Sputnik 1 and commenting "Well, gentlemen, it is not every day we have something new in the sky to talk about", following which he devoted the entire class to proving that Sputnik had been deliberately launched into an orbit
designed to make it invisible from the United States for as long as possible (six weeks).
He died in New Jersey in January 1982.
13,500 items of his papers are contained in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University.
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, inventor of the Schilt photometer
Photometer
In its widest sense, a photometer is an instrument for measuring light intensity or optical properties of solutions or surfaces. Photometers are used to measure:*Illuminance*Irradiance*Light absorption*Scattering of light*Reflection of light*Fluorescence...
.
Biography
Schilt was born in 1894 in the Netherlands, and educated there under Jacobus KapteynJacobus Kapteyn
Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn, was a Dutch astronomer, best known for his extensive studies of the Milky Way and as the first discoverer of evidence for galactic rotation....
. He emigrated to the United States in 1933 as the Chair of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's astronomy department, a position which he filled until his retirement in 1962, when he was granted the title of Rutherford Professor of Astronomy Emeritus.
Schilt's astronomical work included the invention of the Schilt photometer
Photometer
In its widest sense, a photometer is an instrument for measuring light intensity or optical properties of solutions or surfaces. Photometers are used to measure:*Illuminance*Irradiance*Light absorption*Scattering of light*Reflection of light*Fluorescence...
, a device which measures the light output of stars, and, indirectly, their distances. He worked on the motions of star streams in the Milky Way Galaxy, and was director of the Yale-Columbia Southern Station in Johannesberg
Johannesberg
Johannesberg may refer to:* Johannesberg, Bavaria, Germany* Jánský vrch, a castle in the Czech Republic, known as Johannesberg in German- See also :* Johannesburg * Johannisburg, a town in East Prussia, now called Pisz...
and Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, as well as Director of the Rutherfurd Observatory at Columbia.
Schilt was noted at Columbia for walking into his classes the first day after the launch of Sputnik 1 and commenting "Well, gentlemen, it is not every day we have something new in the sky to talk about", following which he devoted the entire class to proving that Sputnik had been deliberately launched into an orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
designed to make it invisible from the United States for as long as possible (six weeks).
He died in New Jersey in January 1982.
13,500 items of his papers are contained in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University.