Markus Griesser

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Markus Griesser (* 1949 in Winterthur , Switzerland ) is a Swiss astronomer and publicist. He is co-founder and for many years honorary director of the Eschenberg observatory in Winterthur, Switzerland, which opened in 1979 .

Life

Designed to preserve its priority interests astrophotography and history of astronomy it is in recent years primarily for his observations of near-Earth asteroids (Engl. Near Earth Asteroids , NEA) are known: more than 22,000 position measurements he has until today to the responsible for that Minor Planet Center in Cambridge , Massachusetts ( USA ) and discovered ten main belt asteroids. Among them are the asteroids (43669) Winterthur , (82232) Heuberger , (113390) Helvetia ,(144096) Wiesendangen , (210213) Hasler-Gloor , (266051) Hannawieser , (273273) Piwowarski , (367406) Buser and (398045) Vitudurum . The name Vitudurum was proposed in October 2015 by Sina Lautenschlager, a then 10-year-old student at the Children's University of Winterthur, as part of a competition organized by Griesser. Markus Griesser has published more than 1,000 articles on astronomical topics in daily newspapers and specialist magazines, participated in around three dozen TV and radio programs, is the author of six non-fiction books and has also given several hundred lectures to children and adults on the Eschenberg reports on his area of ​​expertise. His latest book "Winterthurer Sternstunden - 40 Years Eschenberg Observatory 1979 - 2019", published by the Astronomische Gesellschaft Winterthur in November 2018, describes the eventful history of the Eschenberg Observatory since it opened. Today, Griesser is often out and about in the region with external lectures on his astronomical work, usually in collaboration with political communities, parishes and parishes who, due to their age and physical limitations, can no longer make an evening visit to the Winterthur observatory .

In November 2002 Markus Griesser was involved in the discovery of the asteroid (524522) 2002 VE 68 . Even NASA issued a media release about this re-viewing, in which Markus Griesser and the Eschenberg observatory are explicitly mentioned. In the meantime, this near-earth asteroid has turned out to be a so - called quasi - satellite of Venus. It was captured by our inner neighboring planet about 7,000 years ago and is likely to orbit it in a rather complicated, kidney-shaped orbit for about another 500 years.

In his daily job, Griesser, who worked for many years as a publicist and editor , was responsible for marketing and communication in a medium-sized service company. He has been retired since October 2014 and dedicates himself to the Eschenberg observatory on a full-time basis. Griesser is married, has two grown daughters and lives in Wiesendangen .

Awards

Markus Griesser has received several awards for his astronomical achievements: In 1995 he received the City of Winterthur's Culture Prize . In 1999 he was made an honorary member of the Swiss Astronomical Society and, in 2005, he was also made an honorary member of the Natural Research Society Winterthur. In express recognition of his achievements as an astronomical publicist and successful asteroid observer (11547) Griesser has had his name since 1999. He was trained by the German specialist astronomer Dr. Freimut Börngen discovered in Tautenburg near Jena in 1992 .

In honor of Markus Griesser, Swiss Post issued a special postage stamp designed by himself with a face value of CHF 1.00 on May 8, 2009. The stamp, which shines in the dark, shows the orbit of the asteroid (113390) Helvetia discovered by him in our solar system.

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personal data
SURNAME Griesser, Markus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss astronomer and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Winterthur , Switzerland