Biography:Robert Schwarz (astrophysicist)
Robert Schwarz is an astrophysicist who is ((As of 2018)) now beginning his 14th winter at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station--the 8th winter in a row. This is the most winters that anyone has ever spent at the South Pole, and the most that anyone has ever spent in a row.[1][2][3][4] An avid photographer of the pole, many news organizations used his photographs in their coverage of the medical evacuation flights from the south pole in June, 2016.[4]
Life
Schwarz, a native of Munich, Germany, told The Antarctic Sun that he first became interested in astronomy on a Boy Scout field trip to the island volcano of Stromboli, near Sicily. “It was an absolutely amazing star sky,” Schwarz said. “That’s how I got hooked on that. I wanted to know more about it.” He holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry, math and physics, as well as a master's degree in physics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.[5] While a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Physics, he saw a job posting to spend the winter of 1996-1997 working at the South Pole, and has returned for many winter seasons to work on a variety of science experiments at the Pole.[4] He applied to the European Space Agency to become an astronaut, and has expressed interest in traveling to Mars.[6] In his spare time at the pole, he teaches an introduction to astronomy class to other winter-overs.[4] When not at the south pole, he visits his family in Germany and goes sailing near New Zealand.[7]
Research
- Part of the team running the AMANDA (Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array), the first large-scale experiment using ice to detect neutrinos,[5] in the winter of 1997, winter 1998, summer 1999, and winter 2004[4]
- Part of the team running the QUaD telescope, a cosmic microwave background telescope, in the winters of 2005, 2006, and 2007[4]
- A staff member with the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) and Keck Array instruments, later cosmic microwave background telescopes[1] that have taken the place of QUaD, in the winters of 2010-2018[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rejcek, Peter (April 12, 2014). "It all adds up: Latest South Pole winter-over crew includes two people with 10 seasons each". The Antarctic Sun. https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=3007.
- ↑ "Winterover Statistics". http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/wo.html.
- ↑ "Selected Links". http://www.southpolestation.com/links.html.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Lucibella, Mike. "The Antarctic Sun: News about Antarctica - A South Pole Record". https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=4377.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rejcek, Peter (April 13, 2012). "The Ice Man: Schwarz settles in for his eighth winter at the South Pole". The Antarctic Sun. https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=2642.
- ↑ "Wannabe Mars colonist endured 10 South Pole winters" (in en-US). New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25594-wannabe-mars-colonist-endured-10-south-pole-winters/.
- ↑ "Die meisten zählen schon die Tage" (in German). Der Spiegel. 2016. http://www.antarctic-adventures.de/2017/SchwarzInterview.PDF.
External links
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