Michael Esch

Michael August Esch SJ (born April 12, 1869 in Eupen , † April 28, 1938 in Valkenburg ) was a German Jesuit and astronomer .

Life

The son of a gardener attended the Theodorianum high school in Paderborn and then studied at the theological faculty of the University of Bonn . In 1891 he joined the Society of Jesus in Blyenbeck in the Netherlands . After completing his philosophical studies, he worked from 1896 to 1898 as an assistant to Johann Georg Hagen at the observatory of Georgetown University in Washington, DC There he began observing variable stars and worked on Hagen's Atlas Stellarum Variabilium .

In 1898 he was appointed head of the observatory at the Ignatius College in Valkenburg. There he finished his theology studies and was ordained a priest in 1901. 1903/04 he worked as an assistant to Julius Fényi at the Haynald Observatory in Kalocsa in Hungary. On August 30, 1905, he observed the solar eclipse in Burgos , looking for a planet within Mercury's orbit . In 1910/11 he worked as a mathematics teacher at the Jesuit college in Sittard . After a short stay in Switzerland, he studied from 1912 at the University of Vienna with Samuel Oppenheim . In 1915 he received his doctorate with a dissertation on the three-body problem . From 1916 to 1918 he taught astronomy and physics at the Institute for Scholastic Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck . After that he finally returned to Valkenburg, where he stayed until his death in 1938.

Services

Since 1899 Esch has been occupied almost exclusively with the study of variable stars. With the 23 cm refractor of the Valkenburg observatory, he mainly observed long-period variables and examined their light curves . He worked on the Atlas Stellarum Variabilium , an extensive catalog of variable stars, especially on its Series VII and VIII, after Hagen had turned to other areas. In recognition of these achievements Cardinal appointed him Pietro Maffi  for Astronomo onorario ( "honor astronomer") of the Vatican Observatory .

Publications (selection)

• Brightness observations of Nova Persei (Ch. 1226). In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 157 (1902), 299–304, bibcode : 1902AN .... 157..299E
• Results from observations of long-period variables. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 160 (1903), 321–338, bibcode : 1903AN .... 160..321E
• Search for intramerkurial planets during the solar eclipse of 1905 Aug. 30. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 174 (1907), 49–54, bibcode : 1907AN .... 174 ... 49E
• Notes on the Changeable TT Cygni. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 181 (1909), 67–74, bibcode : 1909AN .... 181 ... 67E
• A new ejection orbit in the Sun-Jupiter system. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 201 (1915), 21–24, bibcode : 1915AN .... 201 ... 21E
• About the changeable 18.1917 Persei and the star BD + 25 ° 3033. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 206 (1918), 171–172, bibcode : 1918AN .... 206..171E
• The period of the Algol variable RZ (1.1918) Cancri. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 209 (1919), 29–32, bibcode : 1919AN .... 209 ... 29E
• The changeable VX (30.1917) Herculis 162618. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, 213 (1921), 81–86, bibcode : 1921AN .... 213 ... 81E

literature

• J. Stein: P. Michael Esch SJ In: Astronomische Nachrichten, Volume 266 (1938), pp. 47-48, bibcode : 1938AN .... 266 ... 47S
• Augustín Udías: Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories. Astrophysics and Space Science Library 286, Springer, Dordrecht 2003, ISBN 978-90-481-6252-9 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-94-017-0349-9 , p. 305