Viktor Oberguggenberger

Viktor Oberguggenberger (born February 3, 1893 in Innsbruck ; † March 2, 1963 there ) was an Austrian astronomer .

Life

Viktor Oberguggenberger was born in Innsbruck in 1893 as the son of a carpenter from the Lesach Valley . In 1913 he graduated from the secondary school in Innsbruck and then signed up as a one-year volunteer for military service, which went into military service with the outbreak of World War I and lasted until the end of the war in 1918. Oberguggenberger was honored several times for his bravery.

After the war, Oberguggenberger studied mathematics, physics and astronomy at the University of Innsbruck with Egon Schweidler , Ottokar Tumlirz , Albert Defant , Josef Anton Gmeiner , Konrad Zindler and Arthur Scheller . In 1920 he became a demonstrator at Schweidler and in the same year wrote his dissertation on the penetrating radiation of the soil and the atmosphere in the wider area around Innsbruck on the basis of his own measurements . In November 1921 he was awarded a doctorate degree with a major in physics and a minor in astronomy. phil. PhD. Immediately afterwards he became an assistant at the Innsbruck observatory under Arthur Scheller. This was handicapped by a severe eye condition, which meant that Oberguggenberger was largely on his own. Together with the precision mechanic Ludwig Karl, he repaired the instruments, adjusted them and redefined the geographical longitude and latitude of the observatory. In 1926 he completed his habilitation in practical astronomy and astrophysics. After Scheller's death in 1929 he was appointed associate professor. Shortly afterwards, he contracted poliomyelitis and from then on could only move around with crutches. This made it very difficult for him to make his own observations; he could only be carried up the narrow staircase of the observatory with a device specially designed for him.

During the Second World War , Oberguggenberger was employed in the air force's computing service for two years . After the war he had the observatory rebuilt and expanded. In 1952 he was appointed full professor. In 1956 he was for health reasons prematurely retired in 1958 he handed Institute and Observatory to his successor, Josef Fuchs .

Services

Oberguggenberger tried, especially after the two world wars, to repair and expand the observatory and its instruments and to redefine the coordinates and pole height of the observatory. He eliminated a mistake in Oppolzer's Zenittelcope and made it ready for use for the International Geophysical Year 1957/58. He dealt with instrumental and observational questions such as photometry , photochemistry and scintillation .

Important areas of work were the determination of the color temperature of stars using the effective wavelength method and the question of the physical reality of star chains . In the absence of tools such as modern star maps, however, it was not possible for him to clearly demonstrate that some of the 338 suspected chains actually consisted of stars that belonged together.

Awards

Oberguggenberger was awarded the 1st class medal for bravery . For his achievements on the Austrian Pasubioplatte in 1916 , he was the first lieutenant with the unusually high order of the Iron Crown III during the war . Class and in 1931 subsequently awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order .

In 1940 he was elected a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and in 1954 he was a real member .

Publications (selection)

• Earth current observations in the mountains. In: Meeting reports of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, mathematical and natural science class, Dept. IIa, Volume 135 (1926), pp. 99–116
• The determination of the pole height of the Innsbruck observatory with the help of Oppolzer's Zenittelcope . In: Session reports of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, mathematical and natural science class, Dept. IIa, Volume 135 (1926), pp. 507-530
• About the scintillation of the fixed stars . In: Session reports of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, mathematical and natural science class, Dept. IIa, Volume 135 (1926), pp. 627–645
• About the cosmic origin of the penetrating cosmic radiation. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, Volume 232 (1928), pp. 117-120
• Statistical studies on the problem of star chains. I. In: Zeitschrift für Astrophysik, Volume 16 (1938), pp. 323-332
• Investigations into the problem of hypersensitization of photographic emulsions with mercury vapor. In: Meeting reports of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, mathematical and natural science class, section 2a, volume 155 (1946), no. 1 u. 2

literature

• Hundred years of astronomy at the Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck (1892–1992). Edited by the Institute for Astronomy and the Innsbruck University Archives, Innsbruck 1992
• Walter Höflechner : Materials for the development of physics and its "peripheral subjects" astronomy and meteorology at the Austrian universities 1752-1938. Institute for History of the Karl-Franzens University Graz, Graz 2002, pp. 208–210 ( PDF; 13.7 MB )

Web links

• Publications by V. Oberguggenberger in the Astrophysics Data System
• University of Innsbruck: professors for astronomy until 1973