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Fritz ZwickySwiss-born American astronomer
Date of Birth: 14.02.1898
Country:  USA |
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Biography of Fritz Zwicky
Fritz Zwicky, an American astronomer of Swiss origin, made a significant contribution to extragalactic astronomy. He was born on February 14, 1898 in Varna, Bulgaria. Zwicky completed his studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1920, and defended his dissertation in physics in 1922. From 1925 to 1972, he worked at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, USA) and its associated observatories, Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar (starting from 1942 as a professor of astrophysics).
Contributions to Astronomy
In the early 1930s, Zwicky focused on solid-state physics, ionized gas, and thermodynamics, before shifting his attention to the study of new and supernovae stars, as well as cosmic rays. In 1934, together with V. Baade, he proposed the hypothesis that supernova flares represent a completely distinct type of stellar explosion, much rarer than new stars. Zwicky and Baade were the first to suggest that a supernova explosion could result in the formation of a superdense degenerate star composed of neutrons. Zwicky also associated the phenomenon of supernovae with the origin of cosmic rays. In 1936, he organized a supernova service for the systematic search of these events in neighboring galaxies. From 1937 to 1941, he discovered 18 supernovae, surpassing the total number observed in the entire history of astronomy up to that point. Zwicky also discovered a large number of white dwarfs.
Throughout his career, Zwicky made significant contributions to extragalactic astronomy. He developed and successfully applied the method of "analytical photography" to the study of galaxies. This method involved overlaying negative and positive prints of the same region of the sky taken in different wavelengths. He discovered and described tens of thousands of galaxies and their clusters, creating a fundamental six-volume catalog of galaxies. He conducted numerous studies on their spatial distribution and, based on the characteristics of this distribution, hypothesized the existence of intergalactic absorbing matter in cloud-like structures, as well as a general intergalactic field of dark matter. Zwicky was the first to propose the existence of matter beyond the visible optical boundaries of galaxies, which has been confirmed by recent observations. He also applied the virial theorem to galaxy clusters, along with S. Smith, and showed that the dynamic energy of clusters is too large unless hidden mass exists within them. Zwicky conducted searches for small-sized galaxies, leading to the discovery of very compact and highly luminous galaxies known as dwarf galaxies.
Contributions to Rocketry
From 1943 to 1961, Zwicky served as the chief scientific consultant for the Aerojet General Corporation in Azusa, California. He obtained 50 patents, primarily in the field of rocket technology, and invented a range of jet and hydro-turborocket engines. He participated in the development of rocket boosters for heavy aircraft takeoff. In October 1946, under Zwicky's guidance, the first experiment to create artificial astronomical objects was carried out with the launch of "artificial meteors" using the V-2 rocket. Zwicky's unique morphological method of research in astronomy and rocket technology, as outlined in his books "Morphological Astronomy" (1957) and "Morphology of Reactive Motion" (1962), made him the founder and president (starting from 1961) of the Society for Morphological Research.
Later Life and Legacy
Zwicky passed away on February 8, 1974, in Pasadena, California, USA. In 1972, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in London for his contributions to science. Zwicky's extensive research and discoveries in the fields of extragalactic astronomy and rocketry have left a lasting impact on our understanding of the universe.
