Rudolph Minkowski
Rudolph Leo Bernhard Minkowski (born May 28, 1895 in Strasbourg , † January 4, 1976 in Berkeley , California) was a German-American astrophysicist . He was a son of the pathology professor Oskar Minkowski and a nephew of Hermann Minkowski .
Minkowski served as a soldier in World War I and received his doctorate from the University of Wroclaw . First he dealt with atomic physics and optics. In 1922 he came to the Physikalisches Staatslabor in Hamburg , where he became a private lecturer at the university in 1926 and a professor in 1930. In Hamburg he turned to observational astronomy, which he had been interested in since his youth. The friendship with Walter Baade in Hamburg was also important here , who advised him to emigrate even after the Nazis came to power (Minkowski had Jewish ancestors and was married to a Jewish woman, the daughter of a Leipzig judge Luise David). From 1935 onwards he went to the Mount Wilson Observatory in the USA on the mediation of Baade , where he stayed until his retirement in 1960. After that he did research at the University of California, Berkeley .
Minkowski dealt in particular with the recording and investigation of planetary nebulae, with novae and supernovae . The division of supernovae into types I and II (together with Walter Baade ) made a significant contribution to the determination of astronomical distance.
He also developed instruments such as Schmidt cameras for spectrographs. Minkowski was director of the National Geographic Society's Sky Survey and the Palomar Observatory in the 1950s (photographic mapping of the northern sky). He was also active in the optical identification of the discovered in the 1950s, strong radio sources in the sky (in collaboration with Walter Baade ), including Cygnus A .
In 1959 Minkowski was elected to the National Academy of Sciences . He was awarded the Bruce Medal in 1961.
In 2007 the asteroid (11770) Rudominkowski was named after him. A moon crater is named after Rudolph and Hermann Minkowski .
Discoveries
Rudolph Minkowski discovered a number of astronomical objects. The list below is not exhaustive:
| designation | Astronomical object |
|---|---|
| M 1-12 | planetary nebula in the constellation Great Dog |
| M 1-46 | planetary nebula in the constellation shield |
| M 1-59 | planetary nebula in the constellation shield |
| M 1-61 | planetary nebula in the constellation shield |
| M 1-65 | planetary nebula in the constellation eagle |
| M 2-40 | planetary nebula in the constellation snake |
Publications
- Minkowski, R. (1939): The Spectra of the Supernovae in IC 4182 and in NGC 1003. , ApJ 89 , 156
- Minkowski, R. (1941): Spectra of Supernovae , PASP 53 , 224-225
literature
- Helmut Rechenberg : Minkowski, Rudolf. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 540 ( digitized version ).
- Donald E. Osterbrock: Rudolph Minkowski 1895-1976. A Biographical Memoir
Web links
- BruceMedailist: Rudolph Minkowski
- German biography
- Literature by and about Rudolph Minkowski in the catalog of the German National Library
- Publications by R. Minkowski in the Astrophysics Data System
Remarks
- ↑ He was at the Mount Wilson Observatory since 1931
- ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 61267
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Minkowski, Rudolph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Minkowski, Rudolph Leo Bernhard (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American astrophysicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 28, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Strasbourg |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th January 1976 |
| Place of death | Berkeley , California |