Famous astronomer admits to SB ties

Aleksander Wolszczan, a world-renowned Polish astronomer and professor at Pennsylvania State University who is credited with the discovery of the extrasolar and the pulsar planets, has admitted to being an informant for the Communist Security Services (SB) in the 1970s and 1980s. The archives of the Institute of National Remembrance show that he was active as an agent under the code name "Lange" and wrote reports about fellow scientists and opposition leaders from Toruń.

He admitted that nobody had blackmailed him or forced him to cooperate with the SB. In a written statement he claimed that, when asked by the SB about certain people, he said little, spoke generally, or said nothing at all. He treated the meetings with SB officers as a "part of life's inconveniences" during those times. Wolszczan also admitted to accepting money and presents for his information.