Maarten Schmidt

Maarten Schmidt is a Dutch astronomer renowned for his groundbreaking work in stellar astrophysics, particularly in the study of quasars—extremely bright and distant objects powered by supermassive black holes. In the 1960s, he discovered that the light from these quasars was redshifted, indicating they were moving away from Earth, which provided key evidence for the expanding universe. His research has significantly advanced our understanding of the universe’s structure and evolution, bridging the gap between galaxies and the early cosmos. Schmidt's contributions have shaped modern astrophysics and our comprehension of cosmic phenomena.