José María Maza Sancho

José María Maza Sancho (born 1948) is a Chilean astronomer and astrophysicist. His work has focused on the study of supernovas, the execution of a search for objects with emission lines, dark energy, and quasars with an objective prism, which led him to be awarded the National Prize for Exact Sciences in 1999. Since 2017 he gained popular following with books aimed to the general public and podcasts.

Biography After studying at the Internado Nacional Barros Arana, he entered the University of Chile as an astronomy student. He did his doctoral studies in astronomy at the University of Toronto.

The Calán Tololo project gave contemporary astrophysics tools for measuring the universe more precisely, calculations that years later would be key for a group of American astronomers to follow these supernova studies, which allowed that group of American scientists to win the Nobel Prize in 2011.

Apart from being a professor and being a member of the (CATA), he has given astronomical talks to young people to get them interested in science, one of which he did at the boarding school in which he studied.

The astronomer Rafael Ferrando baptized the asteroid 108113 as "Maza", in honor of José Maza Sancho.

Awards Presidential Chair in Sciences, 1995 Rector's Medal, University of Chile, 1996 National Prize for Exact Sciences, 1999 Rector's Medal, University of Chile, 1999 Active Member of the Academy of Sciences since 2002

Published books Supernovas, Ediciones B, 2008. Coauthored with Mario Hamuy Wackenhut. Astronomía contemporánea, Ediciones B, 2009. Somos polvo de estrellas, Editorial Planeta, 2017. Marte: la próxima frontera, Editorial Planeta, Santiago, 2018.