Background
Schilt, January was born on February 3, 1894 in Gouda. Holland. Son of Arie Johannes and Marrigje Klazina (de Jong) Schilt.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
January Schilt
Edit ProfileEducation
Student of University of Utrecht, 1912-1916. Doctor of Philisophy, University of Groningen, 1924.
Career
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 Johannesburg and Canberra, as well as Director of the Rutherford 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).
13,500 items of his papers are contained in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University. Asteroid 2308 Schilt (1967 JM) was named in his honor.
Achievements
Membership
Member American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Astronomical Union, American Astronomical Society, Nedrelandsche Astronomen. Club: Sigma Xi.
Connections
Married Jo Timmer, February 6, 1925.
-
Born
-
Died
January 10, 1982 (aged 87) -
Nationality
United States -
Ethnicity