Hermann Kobold (5 August 1858 – 11 June 1942) was a German
astronomer.
Biography
Hermann Albert Kobold was born in
Hanover, Germany, the third of five children of the carpenter August Kobold and his wife Dorothea Kobold (née Brandt). From 1877 to 1880, he studied mathematics and natural sciences at the
University of Göttingen and attained a doctorate in astronomy in July 1880 with
Wilhelm Klinkerfues as his adviser.
Subsequently, he was an assistant at the private observatory of
Miklos von Konkoly-Thege in Ógyalla, Hungary (now
Hurbanovo,
Slovakia). After the participation in an expedition to observe the 1882
transit of Venus in
Aiken, South Carolina, he worked in Berlin some years analysing data from the observation.
Life in Strasbourg
In 1887, Kobold was appointed to the observatory in
Strasbourg, France (
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
at the time). That same year, he married Dorothea Brandt, with whom he had five children. In 1888, he became a private lecturer and in 1900
extraordinary professor (''außerordentlicher Professor)'' at the
University of Strasbourg; two years later, he went to the
University of Kiel as an observator and extraordinary professor.
By intensive observations he discovered 22 previously unknown, smaller galaxies of the Coma galaxy cluster.
''Astronomische Nachrichten''
From 1908 to 1938, he was the publisher of the astronomy journal ''
Astronomische Nachrichten
''Astronomische Nachrichten'' (''Astronomical Notes''), one of the first international journals in the field of astronomy, was established in 1821 by the German astronomer Heinrich Christian Schumacher. It claims to be the oldest astronomical jour ...
''. An asteroid discovered by
Karl William Reinmuth
Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in Heidelberg – 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of 395 minor planets.
Scientific career
From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the He ...
received the name
1164 Kobolda in Kobold's honor in the 1930s.
Death
On 11 June 1942, Kobold died in
Kiel, Germany.
External links
*
Chasing Venus, Observing the Transits of Venus' Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Literature by and about Hermann Koboldin the catalog of the
German National Library
Portrait and list of discoveries by Kobold
Life memories of Hermann Kobold (PDF)
20th-century German astronomers
University of Göttingen alumni
1858 births
1942 deaths
Recipients of the Lalande Prize
19th-century German astronomers
Academic staff of the University of Kiel
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