Peter van de Kamp

This article is about a Dutch astronomer. For the asteroid named for him, see 1965 van de Kamp.

Peter van de Kamp
Peter van de Kamp circa 1973
Born(1901-12-26)December 26, 1901
Kampen, Netherlands
DiedMay 18, 1995(1995-05-18) (aged 93)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alma materUniversity of Utrecht, University of California, Berkeley
Known forAstrometry
AwardsJanssen Prize
Scientific career
Fieldsastronomy
InstitutionsSproul Observatory, University of Amsterdam

Piet van de Kamp (December 26, 1901 – May 18, 1995) was a Dutch astronomer. Known as Peter van de Kamp in the United States he lived most of his life in that country. He was professor of astronomy at Swarthmore College and director of the college's Sproul Observatory from 1937 until 1972. He specialized in astrometry, studying parallax and proper motions of stars.

His work consisted of assisting with parallax programs and proper motion work on stars. Van de Kamp worked under Samuel Alfred Mitchell and Harold Alden. He and Alexander N. Vyssotsky spent eight years measuring 18,000 proper motions. He did additional, smaller projects individually, including an investigation for general and selective absorption of light within the Milky Way.

Van de Kamp came to public attention in the 1960s when he announced that Barnard's Star had a planetary system based on observed "wobbles" in its motion. The particular finding is now known to be false but scientific debate remains regarding companions around the red dwarf star.

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