Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo
Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo (born December 9, 1907 in Leibnitz , Styria , † March 18, 2007 in Heiterwang , Tyrol ) was an Austrian astronomer and was known to the public primarily through his publications on the “Star of the Wise” (or “ Star of Bethlehem ") known.
Life
Konradin Constantin Hubert Marquard Eugen Josef Maria Georg Graf Ferrari d'Occhieppo was born in 1907 as the eldest son of the lawyer Marquard Ferrari d'Occhieppo and his wife Emma, born in the Styrian state government. von Jagemann, born. However, the family soon moved to live with relatives in Würzburg . After the First World War, the family was impoverished. Konradin was initially supposed to be a carpenter and then, due to his talent for ancient languages, an apprenticeship in the book trade. After the death of his father in 1925 he was able to finish high school thanks to a private scholarship.
He then studied under Josef Hopmann in Bonn and Leipzig and received his doctorate summa cum laude in 1934 with a dissertation on the fluctuations in the period of eclipse in Algol and its possible causes . His doctorate followed for a short time as an assistant to Ernst Zinner at the Remeis observatory in Bamberg , where he was denounced by the NSDAP because of Catholic youth activities and was no longer allowed to be employed as an Austrian. A free assistant position led him to the University Observatory Vienna , where he was responsible for the astronomical internship and the photometric monitoring of variable stars. His contract was not renewed there either, but he was allowed to keep his official residence and continued to do theoretical work. From 1939 to 1940 he was director of the Urania observatory in Vienna , where he had previously worked. Then he was drafted into military service by the Wehrmacht, which he survived with a shrapnel in his leg.
In 1945 he returned to Vienna and one year later became Adalbert Prey's assistant . In 1949 he completed his habilitation with a thesis on the celestial mechanical investigation of the hypothetical masses D and E in the Algol system and five years later he was appointed to the re-established chair for theoretical astronomy as an associate professor , where he was full professor from 1963 to 1978. After his retirement , Ferrari first moved to Innsbruck , then to Reutte . He continued his research topics intensively, especially on astronomical chronology and ancient astronomy.
Services
Ferrari published numerous specialist publications in particular in the areas of celestial mechanics , the theory of variable stars , stellar statistics and the structure of the Milky Way arms and created computer-aided star evolution models . The history of astronomy was particularly close to his heart, to which he devoted himself in research and teaching. His research on the star of Bethlehem, which he created as a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC, became known to a wider public . Chr. Indicated.
Honors
Ferrari was elected a corresponding member in Germany in 1962 and a real member of the mathematical and natural science class of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1971 .
On the occasion of his 90th birthday, the asteroid (7146) Konradin was named after him.
Fonts
In addition to numerous specialist publications on theoretical astronomy, Ferrari also wrote several books, including
- Astronomy, 1950
- Customer from space, 1952
- The Philosopher's Star, 1969
- The star of Bethlehem from an astronomical point of view, 1991.
Ferrari dedicated the latter book (as it was called in professional circles) to the academician and researcher of ancient astronomy, Otto Neugebauer (1899–1990).
Among many specialist articles, the following are mentioned:
- K. Ferrari d'Occhieppo: On the truth content of modern cosmogonies . Replica. In: Science and Worldview. Issue 2/1951, p. 56ff.
- K. Ferrari d'Occhieppo: Maximilian Hell and Placidus Fixlmillner , the founders of modern astronomy in Austria . Austrian Naturalists, Doctors and Technicians, Ges. F. Nature & Technology, Vienna 1957.
- K. Ferrari d'Occhieppo, Rolf Krauss, Theodor Schmidt-Kaler : The realms of the ancient Egyptian underworld : mirror image of the sun's trajectories over the course of the year. In: Journal for Egyptian Language and Archeology (ZÄS). Volume 123, pp. 103-110, Leiden University 1996.
- Expert opinion and transcription on Georg von Peuerbach : ... ain schwantzter Stern , Codex 4756 ÖNB about the comet of 1456. In: session reports Österr. Academy d. Knowledge Dept. II, Volume 169, pp. 163ff.
literature
- Maria G. Firneis: Count Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo 1907 - 2007 . In: Siegfried Röser (Ed.): Mitteilungen der Astronomische Gesellschaft, Volume 90, Hamburg 2007, pp. 5–7.
- Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg: Up from the sky. ( Memento from May 11, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) In: Berliner Morgenpost. December 21, 2003
- Hermann Haupt: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo on his 95th birthday. In: Star Messenger . Volume 46, 2003, pp. 14-18.
- Christian Pinter: Babylonian Omen. In: Wiener Zeitung. December 7, 2007 ( online )
- Entry on Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
Web links
- Literature by and about Konradin Ferrari d'Occhieppo in the catalog of the German National Library
- Publications by K. Ferrari d'Occhieppo in the Astrophysics Data System
Single receipts
- ^ Wilhelm Brüggenthies, Wolfgang R. Dick: Biographischer Index der Astronomie / Biographical Index of Astronomy. Acta Historica Astronomiae, Volume 26, Frankfurt am Main 2005. ISBN 3-8171-1769-8 . P. 170
- ↑ One of his students dedicated an extensive work to Ferrari - on his 80th birthday: Franz Stuhlhofer : Wages and Punishment in Science. Natural scientist in the judgment of history (Perspectives on the history of science; 4). Vienna u. a. 1987.
- ↑ (7146 Konradin) in the JPL Small-Body Database Browser
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Ferrari d'Occhieppo, Konradin |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian astronomer |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 9, 1907 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Leibnitz , Styria |
DATE OF DEATH | March 18, 2007 |
Place of death | Heiterwang , Tyrol |