Friedrich Wilhelm Hans Ludendorff (

Dunowo Dunowo (formerly German ''Thunow'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Świeszyno, within Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately west of Świeszyno, south-west of Koszali ...

, 26 May 1873 –

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, 26 June 1941) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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 ...

and astrophysicist. He was the younger brother of General

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...

. After studying physics, mathematics and astronomy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, he started to work as assistant at the

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

in 1897. The following year he changed to the

Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is a German research institute. It is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam (AOP) founded in 1874. The latter was the world's first o ...

, where became observator (1905) and chief observator (1915). From 1921 until his retirement in 1938 he was director of the observatory. Between 1920 and 1930 he belonged to the board of the Astronomical Society. He authored several astronomical and astrophysical works (the first was about asteroids, following his graduation in 1896), but is better known for the Ludendorff Catalogue, that lists the most important stars in the

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...

Messier 13 Messier 13 or M13, also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules or the Hercules Globular Cluster, is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules. Discovery and vis ...

, published in 1905. In 1908 he established the binary character of the star Mizar B (period: 175.6 days), together with American astronomer

Edwin Brant Frost Edwin Brant Frost II (July 14, 1866 – May 14, 1935) was an American astronomer. Biography He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. His father, Carlton Pennington Frost, was dean of Dartmouth Medical School. Frost graduated from Dartmouth in ...

. He also authored several studies on the astronomy of

Pre-Columbian civilizations In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

, especially that of the

Mayas The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical reg ...

Articles

*''Tafel zur Berechnung der Störungsfunction für die äussersten kleinen Planeten'', (1896), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 140, p. 197. *''Der grosse Sternhaufen im Herkules Messier 13'', (1905), Publikationen des Astrophysikalischen Observatoriums zu Potsdam; 15. Bd, Nr. 50. *''Notiz über den spektroskopischen Doppelstern gamma Geminorum'' (1912), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 192, p. 447. *''Weitere Untersuchungen über die Massen der spektroskopischen Doppelsterne'', (1920), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 211, p. 105. *''Handbuch der Astrophysik'' (1928). *''Zur Deutung des Dresdener Maya Kodex'', Sitzungsberichten der Preussischen Ahademie der Wissenschaften, núm. 11, Berlín, 1937. *''Versammlung der Astronomischen Gesellschaft'', (1939), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 268, p. 163. *''Die Astronomischen Inschriften der Maya'', (1940), Festschrift für Elis Strömgren. Astronomical Papers. Copenhagen: Einar Munksgaard, 1940., p. 143.

Sources

*Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS): 84 of his published articles (in German or English).

External links

Hans Ludendorff (in German)Ludendorff articles in NASA ADS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludendorff, Hans 20th-century German astronomers 1873 births 1941 deaths German untitled nobility Ludendorff family University of Hamburg faculty Humboldt University of Berlin alumni