Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart

Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart (born June 8, 1868 in Frankfurt am Main , † April 9, 1913 in Santiago de Chile ) was a German astronomer .

Life

Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart was the oldest of four sons in a Frankfurt merchant family. After graduating from high school in Frankfurt in 1886 , he studied two semesters at the University of Jena , but then continued his astronomy studies at the University of Strasbourg . In 1891 he did his doctorate with the thesis investigations on the constant of precession and the movement of the sun in the fixed star system . At the end of 1891 he became an assistant at the planned but never built observatory in Karlsruhe , which was moved to Heidelberg in 1896 , where he remained until 1898.

A long-cherished plan by Ristenpart to compile a list of the entire positions of all fixed stars in all star catalogs was to be implemented with the support of the astronomer Arthur Auwers and the Prussian Academy of Sciences. After Ristenpart's short stay at the Kiel observatory , Ristenpart was appointed scientific officer in 1900 and worked on this project, known as the history of the fixed star sky , from April 1900 .

In early 1908 he was appointed director of the Chilean National Observatory in Santiago de Chile , where he began work at the end of September. In addition to modern instruments, he was allowed to move the observatory from the city center to the southern town of Lo Espejo. Over time, difficulties arose with the observatory staff and political circumstances led to his contract not being renewed in 1913. Despite the intention to return to Germany, he voluntarily sought death a few weeks before returning to Germany.

Ristenpart's first marriage to Paula Rettig gave birth to their son Karl Ristenpart , who later became a respected conductor in Berlin and Saarbrücken. The second marriage to Helene Kunith in 1906 resulted in three daughters.

The asteroid (2654) Ristenpart , discovered by C. Torres on July 18, 1968 on Cerro El Roble, was named after Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart .

literature

  • Hermann Albert Kobold : notification of the death of Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart . Astronomische Nachrichten , Vol. 194, p. 397. bibcode : 1913AN .... 194..397K
  • Eugen Ristenpart: Friedrich Ristenpart. His life and work . Self-published, Chemnitz, 1915, 57 pp.
  • R. Prager: Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart . Quarterly magazine of the Astronomical Society, 49th volume. 1st issue. Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann, 1914.

Publications

  • David Gill, Catalog of 1905 stars for the Equinox 1865.0 . 1902, 22 pp.
  • Ms. Schroeter, Investigation of the proper motion of stars in the zone 65 ° - 70 ° north declination . Quarterly magazine of the Astronomical Society, 40th year. 3rd issue. Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann, 1905.
  • 21st meeting of the Astronomical Society in Jena, 1906 . 8 p.
  • Juan M. Thome . Quarterly magazine of the Astronomical Society, 44th year. 2nd issue. Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann, 1909, 11 pp.
  • Little astronomy . Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart Berlin Leipzig, 1907, 155 pp.
  • German astronomers in Chile . In: Deutsche Arbeit in Chile , Festschrift of the German Scientific Association in Santiago for the Centenary Celebration of the Republic of Chile, 1910, 19 pp.

family

The parents Friedrich Christian Siegmund Ristenpart (* May 21, 1819 - December 13, 1893) and Maria Johanna Ristenpart, b. Lackemann (* July 17, 1836; † July 3, 1885) had four sons and a daughter who, however, died soon after their birth:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Ristenpart (June 8, 1868 - April 9, 1913) astronomer
  • Friederike Ottilie Agnes (* July 25, 1869 - † October 11, 1869)
  • Carl Julius Emil (born July 15, 1870 - † April 19, 1943) bank director
  • Rudolf Edmund Theodor (born September 2, 1871 - † March 26, 1947) commercial agent
  • Eugen Carl Emil Ristenpart (* November 22, 1873; † 1953) Professor of Chemistry, Dyeing, Fiber Technology at the TU Chemnitz. Student of Wilhelm Ostwald, whose color theory he continued after Ostwald's death. He was the author of numerous scientific publications on color science, dyeing and industrial chemistry. Head of the workshop for color science . A partial estate of Eugen Ristenpart is in the archive of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ristenpart, Friedrich Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1913
Place of death Santiago de Chile