Personal Life & Legacy
Schmidt never married and had no children. Soon after his death through the advocacy of Walter Baade when he arrived at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the United States, the Schmidt telescope idea took off. An 18" Schmidt was produced in 1938 and then ten years later, the famous 48" (122 cm) Samuel Oschin telescope Schmidt-telescope was built at Mount Palomar Observatory. This last telescope produced a flood of new observations and information. It proved the brilliance of the Schmidt concept beyond doubt.
Subsequently at Bergedorf in 1955 a large, well-constructed Schmidt was dedicated. The 2-meter Schmidt telescope of the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory was built later and remains the largest Schmidt camera in the world, although more technologically advanced versions have since been produced. The Bergedorf Schmidt was moved to Calar Alto Observatory in 1976.
B. Schmidt is also the protagonist of the biographic novel Vastutuulelaev by Estonian author Jaan Kross.
Read more about this topic: Bernhard Schmidt
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