George Rümker
George Friedrich Wilhelm Rümker (born December 31, 1832 in Ottensen , † March 3, 1900 in Hamburg ) was a German astronomer and second director of the Hamburg observatory .
Life
George Rümker's father was Karl Rümker , the first director of the Hamburg observatory. His mother was Marie Louise Melcher, his father's housekeeper at the time, and neither of them married. Marie Louise Melcher later emigrated to the USA.
Inspired by the work of his father, George Rümker also dealt with astronomy at an early age. His first observation of falling stars was when he was 15 years old. From 1851 George Rümker studied theoretical astronomy with Johann Franz Encke in Berlin. In 1853 he was hired as an Observer at the Observatory of Durham in England.
After his father fell in the Hamburg observatory in March 1854, George returned to Hamburg in 1857 and took over the management of the observatory. Because he was still so young, he could not be officially appointed director until later, in 1866. He held this position until 1899.
plant
George Rümker's scientific interest was initially in geophysical observations. In 1854 he participated in Airy's pendulum experiments to determine the gravitational constant in the coal mines of Harton Colliery.
After taking over the management of the observatory in Hamburg, he organized an expedition to the total solar eclipse on July 18, 1860 to Castellón de la Plana .
His father had already submitted a Senate petition in 1854 to buy a new equatorial for the observatory. George was able to complete this purchase by organizing additional donations from merchants. The equatorial was later retained when the observatory moved to Bergedorf and was set up again there.
George Rümker was able to initiate the necessary relocation of the Hamburg observatory from downtown Hamburg to the outskirts near Bergedorf, but due to a severe gout problem, the work fell to his successor Richard Schorr .
Honors
In 1875 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina .
Fonts
- On the parallax and aberration of the stars: an astronomical treatise , Hamburg, 1865.
- The total solar eclipse on July 18, 1860 , Hamburg, Perthes-Besser & Mauke, 1861 lccn.loc.gov .
- Observation of the total solar eclipse, at Castellon de la Plana in Spain , on July 18, 1860, Hamburg, 1861.
literature
- Literature by and about George Rümker in the catalog of the German National Library
- J. Schramm: Stars over Hamburg - The history of astronomy in Hamburg. 2nd revised and expanded edition, Kultur- & Geschichtkontor , Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811271-8-8
- Johann C. Poggendorff: JC Poggendorff's biographical-literary concise dictionary for the history of the exact sciences. Barth, Leipzig 1904. - Vol. IV: 1883–1904
- NN: † George Friedrich Wilhelm Rümker , in: 23rd Annual Report on the Activities of the German Naval Observatory , Supplement II, Hamburg 1901, pp. 3–5, digitized
Web links
- Publications by G. Rümker in the Astrophysics Data System
- R. Schorr: Notification of the death of George Friedrich Wilhelm Rümker. Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol. 152 (1900), p. 127
- Equatorial of the Hamburg-Bergedorf observatory
Individual evidence
- ↑ Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 612, p. 185
- ↑ Death display in Astronomical news, Nr.3632, 1900, p.127 online: [1]
- ↑ George Rümker, The Total Solar Eclipse on July 18, 1860, Hamburg, 1861
- ^ Member entry by Georg Rümker at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 23, 2015.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rümker, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rümker, George Friedrich Wilhelm (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German astronomer and second director of the Hamburg observatory |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 31, 1832 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ottensen |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 3, 1900 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |