Arthur Auwers
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Arthur Auwers | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Arthur Auwers in 1884 | |
| Born | 12 September 1838 |
| Died | 24 January 1915 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | German |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
Georg Friedrich Julius Arthur von Auwers (12 September 1838 – 24 January 1915) was a German astronomer. Auwers was born in Göttingen to Gottfried Daniel Auwers and Emma Christiane Sophie (née Borkenstein).[1]
He attended the University of Göttingen and worked at the University of Königsberg. He specialized in astrometry, making very precise measurements of stellar positions and motions. He detected the companion stars of Sirius and Procyon from their effects on the main star's motion, before telescopes were powerful enough to visually observe them. He was from 1866 Secretary to the Berlin Academy, and directed expeditions to measure the transits of Venus, in order to measure the distance from the earth to the Sun more accurately, and therefore be able to calculate the dimensions of the Solar System more accurately and with greater precision. He began a project to unify all available sky charts, an interest that began with his catalog of nebulae which he published in 1862. He died in Berlin. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof I der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. I of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.
His son Karl von Auwers became a well known chemist and discoverer of the Auwers synthesis.
Honors
[edit]Awards
- Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1880[2]
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1888
- James Craig Watson Medal, 1891
- Pour le Mérite (civil class), 31 May 1892[3]
- Bruce Medal, 1899
- The crater Auwers on the Moon is named after him
References
[edit]- ^ Hockey, Thomas (2009). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ^ "Pour le Mérite", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (supp.) (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 6 – via hathitrust.org
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
[edit]
- Bruce Medal page
- Awarding of Bruce Medal
- Awarding of RAS Gold Medal
Ölgemälde (1900) v. Prof. Ernst Hildebrand (1833-1923), Berlin
Obituaries
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Sticker, Bernhard (1970). "Auwers, Arthur Julius Georg Friedrich von". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 339–340. ISBN 0-684-10114-9.
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- 1838 births
- 1915 deaths
- 19th-century German astronomers
- Scientists from Göttingen
- People from the Kingdom of Hanover
- Academic staff of the University of Königsberg
- University of Göttingen alumni
- Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Recipients of the Bruce Medal
- Foreign members of the Royal Society
- Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
- Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
- Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
- Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
- Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
- Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
- Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities