Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs (11 August 1912 – 9 March 1954) was a German

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. She made key observations of

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as ...

s. Eva Ahner-Rohlfs was born in

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

(

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once exis ...

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...

). She studied in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

from 1931 to 1933. After nine years of withdrawal into family life, she studied from 1942 until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. From 1945, she worked closely with professor

Cuno Hoffmeister Cuno Hoffmeister (2 February 1892 – 2 January 1968) was a German astronomer, observer and discoverer of variable stars, comets and minor planets, and founder of Sonneberg Observatory. Born in Sonneberg in 1892 to Carl and Marie Hoffmeister, Cu ...

as an assistant astronomer at the

Sonneberg Observatory Sonneberg Observatory (german: Sternwarte Sonneberg) is an astronomical observatory and was formerly an institute of the Academy of Science in the German Democratic Republic. It was founded in 1925 by Cuno Hoffmeister and is located in Sonneberg, ...

. In 1951, she received a doctorate in astrophysics from the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

. At Sonneberg Observatory Eva Rohlfs met the astronomer

Paul Oswald Ahnert Paul Oswald Ahnert (22 November 1897 – 27 February 1989) was a German astronomer. He first became famous in Germany for publishing the ''"Kalender für Sternfreunde"'' from 1948 until 1988, an annual calendar of astronomical events. The mino ...

and they were married in 1952. From the Sonneberg observatory he made important observations of the variable stars that he detailed in the article "Zur Struktur und Entstehung des Perseidenstroms" ("On the structure and origin of the Perseid current") included in the Observatory Publications Sonneberg Astronomical. Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs died at the age of 41 in

Sonneberg Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home to ...

Bibliography

* ''"Strahlungsdruck, Poynting-Robertson-Effekt und interstellare Materie."'' Mitteilung der Sternwarte Sonneberg 43 (1953) * ''"Vorläufige Mitteilung über Versuche zum Nachweis von Meteoritischem Staub."'' Mitteilung der Sternwarte Sonneberg 45 (1954) * ''"Zur Struktur der Entstehung des Perseidenstroms."'' Veröffentlichung der Sternwarte Sonneberg (part 2, p. 5–38) (1956)

Obituaries

AN 281 (1954) 284
(one sentence) *

: ''"Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs"'' (''Die Sterne'' issue 5/6, 1954, p. 103–105)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahnert-Rohlfs, Eva 1912 births 1954 deaths 20th-century German astronomers Women astronomers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Jena alumni Academic staff of the University of Jena German women academics German women scientists 20th-century women scientists