science · 08 February 1974 · 50 years ago
death
Died 8 Feb 1974 at age 75 (born 14 Feb 1898).
Swiss-American astronomer and physicist who proposed the existence of dark matter accounting for additional mass universe in the universe. His work on supernovas produced an improved theoretical understanding of these infrequent stars that have exceptional brightness for a short period. His career included contributions to jet propulsion and the physics of crystals, liquids and gases but he is best known for astrophysics. He searched for supernovas, and calculated their frequency as rare as one per millenium per typicl galaxy. After Lev Landau proposed extremely dense and compact neutron stars in 1932, Zwicky with Walter Baade suggested that they might be at the core of supernovas, which contributed to the development of the theory of stellar evolution. His abrasive personality delayed the acceptance of his innovative interpretations.
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