Maarten Schmidt (IMAGE)

California Institute of Technology

Maarten Schmidt

Caption

Quasars -- now known to be compact halos of matter that surround the massive black holes of distant galaxies -- were once thought to be stars in our own galaxy. Now, Caltech astrophysicist Maarten Schmidt, who showed that quasars are thousands of millions of light-years away from Earth, has been named one of the first recipients of the $1 million Kavli Prize for his contributions to the field of astrophysics.

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Caltech

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