Born in the Netherlands at the start of the twentieth century, Jan Oort was quick to pursue his dream: a career in science. Majoring in Physics at the University of Oegstegeest in Leiden, Oort was able to attend the lectures of the prestigious astronomer Jaccobus Kapteyn, who was the inspiration in turning Oort towards the career path of an astronomer, in the year 1917. In 1921 Oort took obtained his doctoral degree, but continued his studies in order to achieve the highest possible degree. It was during this time that Oort was placed as the assistant to Pieter Van Rhijn, who was an astronomer who worked alongside Oorts inspiration, Kapteyn. Soon Oort moved to the Yale Observatory, spending his time finding accurate positions of stars. While Oort was pleased with the experience he gained at the Yale Observatory, the tedious task of finding the positions of stars wasn’t what Oort wanted to spend all his time doing. Thus, when the opportunity arose, Oort moved back to Leiden to work as a research assistant.
By 1935 Oort had achieved the status of “Professor Extraordinary” at the Leiden Observatory. It was during this time that Oort created his doctoral thesis regarding the high velocity of stars. It was within this thesis that Oort was able to take extremely complex equations created by Lindblad (another astronomer), and derive them into far simpler equations which explained the rotational motion of entire galaxies. It was with this information that Oort determined that the center of galaxies must be filled with an incredible mass, a theory contrary to the concepts supported by Lindblad. Soon, Oort was seen as the most prominent of the founders of galactic rotation. This discovery made Oort one of the most sought after astronomers of the time, receiving offers to work at both Harvard and Columbia. Oort, however, chose to stay in Leiden.
Unfortunately for Oort, World War II broke out while he was still in the Netherlands. As Nazi Germany dominated continental Europe, an occupied Netherlands became extremely difficult to conduct astronomical research in. By 1942, as the Nazi’s were purging the inferior races within the university, Oort determined it best to disappear from the eyes of the Germans, and moved to a tiny village within the Netherlands, resigning from his position. While Oort was able to spend some time working on mathematical equations, in the grand scheme of things the time was ultimately wasted.
When the war ended Oort was able to return to Leiden Observatory, and was quick to become the observatory’s director. During this time radio astronomy was becoming a reality, and Oort was quick to embrace the new technology. With the use of radio astronomy, Oort was able to prove with a group of other astronomers that the Milky Way Galaxy was in fact a spiral galaxy.
In addition to studying galaxies, Oort also spent some time investigating the formation and existence of comets within our solar system. His belief that comets generally come from a single origin is what led to him being named after the Oort cloud, a ring of material surrounding our solar system which many comets pass through.
Overall, Oorts contributions to modern astronomy were great. Oorts discoveries shape our views of the galaxy today, shedding light on its spiral structure and understanding the incredible mass that rests at their centers. Oort showed incredible ability in the area of mathematics, working to prove to his upmost ability every one of his hypotheses.
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