Jeremiah Ostricker, an astrophysicist, passed away on Sunday at his home, west of Manhattan. He was 87 years old. Ostricker revolutionized humanity’s view of the universe, revealing it to be a larger and darker area than what is visible, ruled by invisible forms and energy we do not fully comprehend. His daughter, Rebecca Ostriker, confirmed that the cause of death was end-stage renal disease.
For over 40 years, primarily at Princeton University, Dr. Ostricker’s work reshaped our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve, as well as our exploration of the nature of pulsars, the role of black holes in cosmic evolution, and the essence of the universe itself. Most astronomers before the 1970s believed galaxies were predominantly composed of stars.
“Ostricker was undoubtedly the one most influential in persuading the astronomical community that this natural and intriguing assumption was incorrect.” Simons Foundation, He wrote in 2022 that he supported scientific research and nominated Dr. Ostricker for the Crafoord Prize, equivalent to the Nobel Prize in astronomy. He cited Dr. Ostricker’s “an eloquent defense of the radical new model of the time, in which visible stars in the galaxy were minor contaminants at the heart of a much larger halo of dark matter of unknown composition.”
Dr. Ostricar’s work was described as “the most epic revision in understanding galaxies” in half a century.
Source: www.nytimes.com