Astronomical News
| Astronomical News | |
|---|---|
| description | Scientific journal |
| Area of Expertise | Astronomy and astrophysics |
| language | English |
| publishing company | Wiley-VCH , Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam ( Germany ) |
| First edition | 1821 |
| Frequency of publication | 10 per year |
| Editor-in-chief | Klaus G. Strassmeier |
| Web link | www.aip.de/AN |
| ISSN (print) | 0004-6337 |
| ISSN (online) | 1521-3994 |
Astronomische Nachrichten ( Astronomical Notes ) is the title of the oldest surviving astronomical journal in the world. Today, ten issues per year of the journal founded in Altona appear in English with a focus on observational and theoretical astrophysics .
The medium was founded in 1821 by Heinrich Christian Schumacher , who published the incoming articles in the language chosen by the author - predominantly German, often English, rarely French or Italian. From 1974 to 1990 the articles were usually published in German or English.
The current range of topics includes solar physics, extragalactic questions, cosmology , as well as topics on instrumentation and related issues in geophysics . Numerical methods related to astronomy, often related to supercomputers , are also included.
The libraries that have complete holdings include the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam , the Archenhold Observatory Berlin-Treptow, the Astronomical Computing Institute Heidelberg and the University Library in Munich .
history
founding
Around 1820 there was no longer a specialist journal in Germany that focused on astronomy and mathematics. In the scientific community, the lack of a relevant body was perceived as a major deficiency because it made communication among scientists and the dissemination of current news very difficult.
In this situation, the Danish Finance Minister Johann Sigismund von Mösting confronted his Altona compatriot Heinrich Christian Schumacher with the offer to publish an astronomical magazine under the patronage of the Danish King Christian VIII and to finance it through the state treasury. After the astronomical luminaries Bessel , Gauß and Olbers assured their friend Schumacher that they would support him with articles for the new magazine, he finally decided to take on the burden of a magazine editor in addition to his work as director of the Altona observatory .
In June 1821, Schumacher informed the public in a circular about his intention to publish the Astronomical News:
"With higher support, I am able to offer astronomers and mathematicians a way to quickly disseminate scientific work and news."
The magazine should contain “observations, news, advertisements from books and other short messages from my astronomical friends”, which Schumacher asked for their “active cooperation” by sending their contributions by letter. As soon as enough material is collected, a booklet the size of a sheet (8 pages with 16 columns) should be sent and 24 booklets combined into one volume.
Schumacher opened the Astronomische Nachrichten in September 1821 with issue No. 1, which contained a slightly modified version of the circular as a foreword. In the months that followed, until November 1822, no, one or more notebooks were published each month, depending on when a sheet was filled. After issue 24, Volume 1 was completed in January 1823 (see cover picture). Schumacher himself contributed a number of articles, and his friends Bessel, Gauß and Olbers kept their promise and enriched the magazine with their contributions. The first volume also contained contributions from many other well-known scientists.
The Astronomische Nachrichten was usually published in one or more volumes per year. Schumacher edited 31 volumes from 1821 until his death in 1850. The authors came from almost every European country and the USA, and their submissions were printed in German, English, French and Italian. The submissions consisted of letters with observations, news and other communications from Schumacher's correspondents. In a short time, the Astronomical News developed into the leading communication organ for astronomers and mathematicians.
In the first half of the 19th century other astronomical journals were founded. From 1827 the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society appeared in England . In 1850 Benjamin A. Gould founded the Astronomical Journal in the USA based on the model of the Astronomical News . Both magazines, like the Astronomical News, still exist today.
crossing
Schumacher died on December 28, 1850. After his death, a five-year transition period began with changing editors. Adolph Cornelius Petersen , who had worked as assistant and observer for Schumacher since 1825, followed him as interim director of the observatory and as editor of the Astronomical News. Volume 31 had been prepared by Schumacher and edited by Petersen. Schumacher's wish that Petersen and Peter Andreas Hansen should publish the Astronomical News after his death could only be fulfilled with Volume 33, since Petersen had to publish Volume 32 alone due to the necessary haste. The joint editorship of Petersen and Hansen lasted only two years, as Petersen died in early 1854. Hansen still officially published volume 38 alone, volume 39 appeared without an editor's note.
From 1855
From 1855 to 1880 Christian August Friedrich Peters was director of the observatory and editor of the magazine for 25 years. Under his leadership, however, the Astronomische Nachrichten experienced a significant loss of quality, as Peters fell out with a number of astronomers and the magazine was shunned by many authors. After the German-Danish War in 1864, the dissolution of the Altona observatory was initiated and moved to Kiel until 1872, where Peters again became director of the observatory and continued the Astronomical News.
After Peters' death the magazine became the property of the Prussian government. She transferred the technical supervision of the journal of the Astronomical Society . Peters was followed by Adalbert Krueger as director of the observatory and editor of the Astronomical News. Krueger died in 1896 and Heinrich Kreutz took over the publication until his death in 1907.
Christian August Friedrich Peters
Adalbert Krueger
Hermann Kobold
From 1907
Hermann Kobold followed Heinrich Kreutz as editor in 1907 and held this position for 31 years until 1938. During the First World War, the Astronomical News continued to appear without interruption. In 1921 the “Jubilee Number for the 100th Anniversary” of the Astronomical News appeared as a supplement to Volume 214. In 1938, the 80-year-old Kobold handed over the editing to the Astronomical Computing Institute in Berlin-Dahlem. From 1939, volume 269, the column counting was switched to page counting. During the Second World War, the Astronomische Nachrichten appeared up to volume 274 in 1943.
In 1947 the publication of the magazine was resumed in the GDR on behalf of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Until 1951 , the editor was Hans Kienle , the director of the Astrophysical Observatory in Potsdam , supported by Johann Wempe as editor. From 1951 to 1972 Wempe was editor of the Astronomical News for 21 years. As of 1974, Volume 295, the Astronomical News was no longer published by individuals. The editor was replaced by an editorial board, later called the Editorial Board. As of 1991, Volume 312, the Central Institute for Astrophysics was given as the publisher.
From 1974 to 1990 the articles in the magazine appeared in German or English, then only in English. As of 2005, Volume 326, the journal is titled Astronomical Notes and subtitled Astronomical News. The magazine has been published as an online version since 2016, but can also be obtained as a print version via Print on Demand .
Publisher until 1972
| tape | year | editor |
|---|---|---|
| 1-31 | 1821-1851 | Heinrich Christian Schumacher |
| 32 | 1851 | Adolph Cornelius Petersen |
| 33-37 | 1852-1854 | Adolph Cornelius Petersen and Peter Andreas Hansen |
| 38 | 1854 | Peter Andreas Hansen |
| 39 | 1855 | no information |
| 40-96 | 1855-1880 | Christian August Friedrich Peters |
| 97 | 1880 | Christian August Friedrich Peters, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Peters |
| 98-99 | 1881 | Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Peters |
| 100-139 | 1881-1896 | Adalbert Krueger |
| 140 | 1896 | Adalbert Krueger, Heinrich Kreutz |
| 141-174 | 1896-1907 | Heinrich Kreutz |
| 175 | 1907 | Heinrich Kreutz, Hermann Kobold |
| 176-266 | 1908-1938 | Hermann Kobold |
| 267 | 1938 | Hermann Kobold, Astronomical Computing Institute |
| 268-274 | 1939-1943 | Astronomisches Recheninstitut, name 1939–1944: Kopernikus Institute |
| 275-279 | 1947-1951 | Hans Kienle |
| 280-294 | 1951-1972 | Johann Wempe |
Internet access
- The Wiley-VCH offers a fee-based online access to all issues of the Astronomical messages. Only individual articles, not entire volumes, can be downloaded. There is also an obligation to pay for the copyright-free volumes.
- Google Books and the Munich Digitization Center (MDZ) offer free access to the copyright-free volumes . General registers for 20 to 40 volumes each were published for volumes 1–240, and volumes 1–60 are available online.
- The Astrophysics Data System digital library offers free access to selected articles from the Astronomical News via a search form. By specifying the year or volume of the magazine, a list of all available articles for a year or volume is displayed.
literature
- Dieter B. Herrmann : The emergence of the astronomical journals in Germany 1798-1821. Archenhold-Sternwarte, Berlin-Treptow 1972, pp. 74-104.
- Oliver Schwarz, Manfred Strumpf: Peter Andreas Hansen and the astronomical community - a first evaluation of the Hansen estate. The rescue of the Altona observatory and the astronomical news in 1854. In: Contributions to the history of astronomy. Volume 1. 1998, ISSN 1422-8521 , pp. 142-148.
- Jochen Schramm: Stars over Hamburg. The history of astronomy in Hamburg. Kultur- und Geschichtkontor, Hamburg 1996, pp. 86–91, 131–134.
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ # Herrmann 1972 , p. 74.
- ↑ # Herrmann 1972 , pp. 74-81.
- ↑ #Herrmann 1972 , at 82.
- ^ Letter from Adolph Cornelius Petersen to Carl Friedrich Gauß, January 12, 1851, Gauß letter database , continuation of the Astronomical News .
- ↑ doi: 10.1002 / (ISSN) 1521-3994 .
- ↑ Overview of the volumes available online: s: Astronomische Nachrichten # Years .
- ↑ Overview of the general registers available online: s: Astronomische Nachrichten # Register .
- ^ Astrophysics Data System, Query Form .