Jansky, Karl (Guthe)

(born Oct. 22, 1905, Norman, Okla., U.S.—died Feb. 14, 1950, Red Bank, N.J.) U.S. engineer. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and went to work for Bell Telephone Laboratories. Assigned to track down sources of static that could interfere with radiotelephone communication, he discovered (1931) the first extraterrestrial source of radio waves, emanating from the constellation Sagittarius in the direction of the Milky Way Galaxy's centre. The discovery proved that celestial bodies could emit radio waves and marked the beginning of radio astronomy.

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