astronomy

Thijs de Graauw

Thijs de Graauw is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thijs de Graauw rather than just read about it. In short: Mattheus Wilhelmus Maria "Thijs" de Graauw (10 March 1942 – 20 April 2026) was a Dutch astronomer. Life and career Thijs de Graauw was born in Kerkdriel, Netherlands on 10 March 1942.

Key takeaways

Thijs de Graauw belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thijs de Graauw to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thijs de Graauw from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mattheus Wilhelmus Maria "Thijs" de Graauw (10 March 1942 – 20 April 2026) was a Dutch astronomer.

Life and career Thijs de Graauw was born in Kerkdriel, Netherlands on 10 March 1942. He studied astronomy at Utrecht University and received there his Ph.D. in 1975 under Henk van Bueren with a dissertation on 'Infrared Heterodyne Detection in Astronomy : Experiments and Observations'. From 1975 to 1983 he worked as a scientist for the Space Science Department of ESA (European Space Agency). At ESA's largest facility, ESTEC in Noordwijk, he worked on the development of microwave receivers. In 1983 he became the director of the Groningen branch of SRON (Stichting Ruimte Onderzoek Nederland). From 2008 to 2013 he was the director of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). In 2012 he won the Joseph Weber Award for his work on the short wavelength spectrometer on the Infrared Space Observatory and also for his work on the HIFI camera, which was launched on board Herschel, ESA's infrared space observatory. He was elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020. Asteroid (11243) de Graauw was named after him. De Graauw died on 20 April 2026, at the age of 84 in Santiago, Chile.

References

External links Thijs de Graauw: ALMA contribution to Astrochemistry – YouTube, uploaded 1 June 2011

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thijs de Graauw

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thijs de Graauw claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thijs de Graauw before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thijs de Graauw ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thijs de Graauw

In research: Thijs de Graauw appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thijs de Graauw in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thijs de Graauw is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 2026 deaths, 20th-century Dutch astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thijs de Graauw outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thijs de Graauw in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thijs de Graauw means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thijs de Graauw out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thijs de Graauw in simple terms?

Mattheus Wilhelmus Maria "Thijs" de Graauw (10 March 1942 – 20 April 2026) was a Dutch astronomer. Life and career Thijs de Graauw was born in Kerkdriel, Netherlands on 10 March 1942.

Why does Thijs de Graauw matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thijs de Graauw?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thijs de Graauw.