Rudolph E. Schild (born 10 January 1940) is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who has been active since the mid-1960s. [1] He has authored or contributed to over 250 papers, of which 150 are in refereed journals. [2]
Schild's research in the 1980's and 90's was focused on using gravitational lensing to determine the age of the universe and the Hubble constant. [3] [4] The investigation into quasar images also, in 1994, suggested the existence of a binary pair of stars within a few light years of Earth. [5] He also published in 1996 his findings on rogue planets identified through analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images. [6] [7] Then, in the 2000's, Schild began focusing on the double galaxy CSL-1 and superstring theory, which was noted as a possible step toward uncovering the theory of everything. [8]
Schild is a member of a group of researchers who have published frequently on the claim that photos on Mars from various NASA rover missions have shown evidence of fossilized life. [9] He is a proponent of "magnetospheric eternally collapsing objects" (MECOs), [10] an alternative to black holes. [11] These results are most often published in Journal of Cosmology , a fringe astronomy journal edited by Schild himself, [12] while his other research is published in mainstream astronomy journals such as MNRAS and the Astronomical Journal . [2]
Schild is married to mezzo-soprano Jane Struss, who teaches voice at Longy School of Music. [1]