Friedrich Becker (astronomer)
Friedrich Eberhard Becker (born June 12, 1900 in Münster , † December 25, 1985 in Munich ) was a German astronomer. He was a professor at the University of Bonn . His brother is the astronomer Wilhelm Becker .
Friedrich Becker was an observator at the Bonn observatory from October 1930. He completed his habilitation in 1931 and became an adjunct professor in 1937. He was appointed acting director in 1945 and then director of the Bonn University Observatory from 1947 to 1966 (his predecessor was Arnold Kohlschütter ). In 1949 he was elected chairman of the Astronomical Society (AG) and succeeded in reintroducing Germany into the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
The reconstruction of the university after the war and the rapid developments in astronomy led to various initiatives in Bonn under the leadership of Becker. In order to be able to carry out astronomical measurements in a place free from urban light pollution, Becker succeeded in 1952 by having an outdoor station at the Hoher List observatory built in the Eifel near Daun. The radio astronomy, which was just developing in Bonn, gave rise to the establishment of the Radio Astronomical Institute with the Stockert Telescope near Bad Münstereifel in 1957 . The research successes there led to the founding of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy with the Effelsberg radio telescope in 1964, with his significant involvement . After the launch of the first artificial earth satellite, space research developed into the Institute for Astrophysics and Extraterrestrial Research, founded in 1964 .
Becker mainly worked on stellar statistics , star spectra and interstellar matter. From 1939 he was a member of the Leopoldina and from 1972 a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . His teacher in particular was Paul Guthnick .
literature
- Friedrich Becker , In: International Biographical Archive. 44/1957 of October 21, 1957, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
- H. Schmidt: Friedrich Becker. In: Communications from the Astronomical Society. Volume 66 (1986), p. 5. (Obituary)
- H. Schmidt: Astronomers of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn - their life and work 1819-1966. Bouvier Verlag, Bonn 1990, ISBN 3-416-80604-2 .
- Brockhaus Encyclopedia, 21st edition . Volume 3, 2005, ISBN 3-7653-4141-X , p. 451.
Web links
- Literature by and about Friedrich Becker in the catalog of the German National Library
- Publications by F. Becker in the Astrophysics Data System
Individual evidence
- ^ Member entry by Friedrich Becker (with a link to Rudolf Kippenhahn's obituary ) at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on January 6, 2017.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Becker, Friedrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Becker, Friedrich Eberhard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 12, 1900 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Muenster |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 25, 1985 |
| Place of death | Munich |