Hugo von Seeliger

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Hugo von Seeliger

Hugo Johann Seeliger , since 1902 Hugo Hans Ritter von Seeliger (born September 23, 1849 in Biala , † December 2, 1924 in Munich ) was a German astronomer . He is considered one of the most important astronomers of his time.

Life

Seeliger was born in Biala in the Galician part of the Bielsko-Biala language island to a wealthy family, which enabled him to devote himself to science free of restrictions. He studied astronomy and mathematics in Heidelberg and Leipzig . During his studies in 1867 he became a member of the Frankonia Heidelberg fraternity . For a short time he was an assistant at the Leipzig observatory and in 1873 came to the observatory in Bonn as an observer, where he was assigned the observations of the meridian circle. In 1874 he led the German expedition to observe the passage of Venus III on Auckland Island.

Soon after his habilitation in 1877, he gave up his position and moved to Leipzig as a private scholar. From October 1, 1881 to September 1, 1882, Seeliger was director of the Gotha observatory for a short time . He was appointed professor, accepted an appointment at the University of Munich as director of the Bogenhausen observatory there and left Gotha again. Seeliger stayed in Munich until his death. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina , in 1901 a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences , and in 1908 a member of the National Academy of Sciences .

Seeliger received numerous awards, including the Order of the Red Eagle III. Class 1896, title and rank of Royal Privy Councilor 1906, Commander's Cross 1st Class of the North Star Order in 1912, holder of the Order Pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts in 1915, and the Order of Merit of St. Michael II Class with Star in 1917. By the award The Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown , Seeliger was raised to the personal nobility in 1902 . In 1908 he received the commander of this order.

Expedition to observe the passage of Venus in 1874, left: Hugo von Seeliger.

From April 1, 1919 to December 31, 1923, Seeliger was President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt . He was also chairman of the Astronomical Society from 1896 to 1921 .

Seeliger's work is almost exclusively in the field of theory. Particularly noteworthy are his celestial mechanical investigations into the multiple star system Zeta Cancri and his lighting theory of Saturn's rings and zodiacal light on the basis of their dusty nature. Seeliger was also one of the co-founders of stellar statistics and the third director of the Bogenhausen observatory. Karl Schwarzschild is considered to be his most important student .

The lunar crater Seeliger and the asteroid (892) Seeligeria are named after him.

students

His students included:

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fraternity leaves . XIV., Berlin 1900, p. 281.
  2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 222.
  3. ↑ http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=61848

Web links

Commons : German expedition to observe the passage of Venus III on Auckland Island  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Otto Crusius President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences from
1919 to 1923 		Max von Gruber
personal data
SURNAME Seeliger, Hugo von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seeliger, Hugo Johann; Seeliger, Hugo Otto Ritter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Biała
DATE OF DEATH December 2, 1924
Place of death Munich