= Robert C. Kennicutt Jr.
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{wiki=Robert_Kennicutt}
<Robert C. Kennicutt Jr.> studies how <gas> becomes <stars> in <galaxies>. His 1998 observational analysis combined normal <spiral galaxies> and <starburst galaxies>, finding an approximately $1.4$ <power law> between disk-averaged <star formation rate> per unit <area> and <gas> <surface density>. This <Kennicutt–Schmidt law> connects measurements across whole <galaxies> to prescriptions used in models of <galaxy formation>.<The Global Schmidt Law in Star Forming Galaxies by Robert C. Kennicutt Jr.>[Abstract: combined samples, disk averaging and fitted index 1.4±0.15]{ref}
With <Neal J. Evans II>, he also reviewed how different observations estimate <star formation rates> and how the <gas>–<star formation> relation changes between <molecular clouds> and whole <galaxies>.<Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies by Robert C. Kennicutt Jr. and Neal J. Evans II>[Abstract: rate diagnostics and cloud-to-galaxy scales]{ref}
\Image[https://gruber.yale.edu/sites/default/files/styles/square_160/public/2025-07/tamu_46841.jpg?h=2a66128e&itok=WPArDENg]
{title=Portrait of <Robert C. Kennicutt Jr.>}
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{source=https://gruber.yale.edu/person/robert-kennicutt}
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