Johann Dorschner

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Johann Martin Dorschner (born August 20, 1939 in Pürstein an der Eger, Sudetenland ; † July 11, 2020 in Jena ) was a German astronomer .

Life

Dorschner's family was expelled from Pürstein in 1946 and moved to Apolda in Thuringia. Here Johann Dorschner attended elementary school in Herressen until 1953 and passed his Abitur at the Geschwister-Scholl-Oberschule in Apolda in 1957. From 1957 to 1963 he studied physics and astronomy at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena . During an internship at the Sonneberg observatory , he met Paul Ahnert , with whom he was on friendly terms. As a graduate astronomer, he took on an assistant position at the Jena University Observatory . In 1969 followed the dissertation on the topic "On the theory of interstellar dust with special consideration of the circumstellar dust formation".

Dorschner was a research assistant at the Astrophysical Institute of the University of Jena from 1971 to 1991. His specialty was the solar system . At the same time he trained the student teachers in mechanics , thermodynamics and linear algebra .

From 1992 to 1996 he was head of the laboratory division of the research group Dust in Star Formation Areas at the Max Planck Society . After its expiry in 1996, he returned to his area of ​​responsibility at the Astrophysical Institute in Jena. After his retirement in 2004, he continued to work there as a freelancer.

In parallel to his work at the university, Dorschner was an editor at the magazine Die Sterne from 1978 and from 1983 took over the chief editor together with Joachim Gürtler. In it he published a large part of his scientific and popular scientific work.

Dorschner had been married since 1964. The marriage resulted in 3 children. His wife passed away in 2012.

Scientific activity

Dorschner researched the interstellar dust and its formation with the telescopes of the university observatories in Jena and Großschwabhausen . He became a member of Commission 34 (Interstellar Matter) of the IAU and is a member of URANIA . He was also a member of the Kulturbund der Hochschulgruppe (East Germany). He took on leading positions in both organizations. He was the deputy chairman of the astronomy section of the URANIA Presidium and headed the “IG Astronomie” interest group in the Kulturbund. He was also a member of the Astronomical Society (AG) from 1963 to 1970 ; from 1970 its members were forcibly suspended in the GDR and could not be continued until 1990.

In addition to teaching at the University of Jena, Astrophysics Section, in 1976 he also took over the management of the physics internship at the facility. His intensive public relations work in the astronomical field is also shown by his most famous popular science publications Are we alone in space? , Planet siblings of the earth? , The cosmos as creation and astronomy in Thuringia . Astronomy Today - Face of an Ancient Science and The Solar System as well as Man and the Universe appeared in the author collective . Natural science and belief in creation in dialogue . Dorschner made a further 500 scientific and popular scientific contributions to international astronomical conferences, in magazines, newspapers, feature sections and in contributions to reference works.

In the works The Cosmos as Creation and Man and Universe. As an avowed Christian, Dorschner dealt with the subject of "Science, Faith and Creation" in dialogue and in numerous workshops. While he was preparing physics teachers for their tasks in astronomy lessons at the Astronomical-Physics Institute in Jena, he also dealt with the problem of "science and faith" in numerous private, mostly church-organized meetings with predominantly Christian teachers, scientists and doctors. His involvement in Heilbad Heiligenstadt should be emphasized , where he often discussed this topic with teachers and clergy in GDR times in the Thomas More House of the Redemptorist Monastery of St. Klemens .

Publications (selection)

  • Are we alone in space? Akzent series 5, Urania Verlag Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1974, VLN 212-475 / 101/78 LSV 1499
  • with Chr. Friedmann, S. Marx, W. Pfau: Astronomy today - face of an ancient science. Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1974, DNB 770059317
  • Planet siblings of the earth? Akzent-Reihe 27, Urania Verlag 1977, 3rd edition 1986, ISBN 978-3-332-00074-0 .
  • with Joachim Gürtler: The solar system. Barth Verlag, Leipzig / Berlin / Heidelberg 1993, ISBN 3-335-00281-4 .
  • with Michal Heller, Wolfhart Pannenberg : Mensch und Universum. Natural science and belief in creation in dialogue. Pustet Verl., Regensburg 1995, ISBN 978-3-7917-1486-8 .
  • as editor: The cosmos as creation. On the status of the conversation between science and theology. Pustet Verlag, Regensburg 1998, ISBN 978-3-7917-1591-9 .
  • Astronomy in Thuringia. Jenzig Verlag Köhler, Jena 1998, ISBN 978-3-910141-32-2 .

Honors

  • Faculty award of the Astro-Physical Section of the University of Jena for his dissertation "On the theory of interstellar dust with special consideration of circumstellar dust formation"
  • 1979: Golden badge of honor from URANIA
  • 1994: Bruno H. Bürgel Prize of the Astronomical Society
  • 2004: Minor planet no. 73693 (1991 RQ 3 ) was named (73693) Dorschner at the suggestion of the discoverer, Freimut Börngen, at the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., For his work on interstellar dust

Web links

Commons : Johann Dorschner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Gerhard Conrad: Johann Dorschner - a life for "The Stars" . In: Stars and Space . August 2019 ( Spektrum.de [accessed on March 27, 2020]).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Martin Leiner, Nikolaus Knoepffler, H. James Birx: Teilhard de Chardin . V & R Unipress, 2005, ISBN 978-3-89971-232-2 ( google.de [accessed on March 28, 2020]).
  3. ↑ Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-322-93038-5 ( google.de [accessed on March 28, 2020]).
  4. ↑ Reinhard E. Schielicke: "Who counts the peoples - name the names ...": The Astronomical Society and its members 1863 to 2013 . Astronomical Society, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-9805176-6-9 .
personal data
SURNAME Dorschner, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dorschner, Johann Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Pürstein an der Eger, Sudetenland
DATE OF DEATH July 11, 2020
Place of death Jena