Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in
Heidelberg – 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) 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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either obse ...
and a prolific discoverer of 395
minor planets
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
.
Scientific career
From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the
Heidelberg Observatory (german: Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl) an
astronomical 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. Hi ...
on the
Königstuhl hill above
Heidelberg in southern Germany. He was a member at the minor planet studies group at
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut
The Astronomical Calculation Institute (german: Astronomisches Rechen-Institut; ARI) is a research institute in Heidelberg, Germany, dating from the 1700s. Beginning in 2005, the ARI became part of the Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg Unive ...
between 1947 and 1950, and later became "Oberobservator" or chief-observer at Heidelberg Observatory until his retirement in 1957.
Reinmuth obtained more than 12,500 precise
astrometric
Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way.
Hist ...
measurements of minor planets' positions on photographic plates, an enormous accomplishment before computer-based assistance existed.
Honours
The outer main-belt asteroid
1111 Reinmuthia, discovered by himself at Heidelberg in 1912, was named in his honour ().
Discoveries
Among his most notable discoveries are the two
near-Earth object
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU) ...
s (NEOs)
1862 Apollo
1862 Apollo is a stony asteroid, approximately 1.5 kilometers in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object (NEO). It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory on 24 April 1932, but lost and not recovered unt ...
, the namesake of the Apollo group which became the largest group of asteroids within the NEO category with nearly 8,000 members, and
69230 Hermes
69230 Hermes is a sub-kilometer sized asteroid and binary system on an eccentric orbit, classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, that passed Earth at approximately twice the distance of the Moon o ...
, famous for being a
lost asteroid
A minor planet is "lost" when today's observers cannot find it, because its location is too uncertain to target observations. This happens if the orbital elements of a minor planet are not known accurately enough, typically because the observat ...
for more than half a century until its recovery in 2003, and for being the only unnumbered but named asteroid during that period.
He also discovered several large
Jupiter trojans including
911 Agamemnon
911 Agamemnon, provisional designation ', is a large Jupiter trojan and a suspected binary asteroid from the Greek camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 19 March 1919, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observat ...
,
1143 Odysseus,
1172 Äneas,
1173 Anchises,
1208 Troilus
1208 Troilus is a large and notably inclined Jupiter trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 31 December 1931, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The unusual ...
,
1404 Ajax
1404 Ajax is a carbonaceous Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 August 1936, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, and named after the le ...
,
1437 Diomedes
1437 Diomedes is a large Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 3 August 1937, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The dark D/P-type ast ...
and
1749 Telamon
1749 Telamon is a dark Jupiter Trojan from the Greek camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory on 23 September 1949, and named after Telamon from Greek mythology. The D-t ...
. The main-belt asteroid
5535 Annefrank
5535 Annefrank (), provisional designation , is a stony Florian asteroid and suspected contact binary from the inner asteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers in diameter. It was used as a target to practice the flyby technique that the Stard ...
, which he discovered in 1942 during World War II, was later visited by the
Stardust spacecraft in 2002.
His lowest numbered minor planet discovery is
796 Sarita
796 Sarita is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered 15 October 1914 by German astronomer Karl W. Reinmuth. This is a main belt that is orbiting at a radius of with a period of and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.32. The orbital pla ...
, an
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
from the middle region of the main-belt.
Reinmuth also discovered two
periodic comet
Periodic comets (also known as short-period comets) are comets with orbital periods of less than 200 years or that have been observed during more than a single perihelion passage (e.g. 153P/Ikeya–Zhang). "Periodic comet" is also sometimes us ...
s of the
Jupiter family
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are ...
, namely
30P/Reinmuth and
44P/Reinmuth.
Meta-naming
The initials of the minor planets through , all discovered by Reinmuth, spell out "G. Stracke".
Gustav Stracke
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
*Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...
was a German astronomer and orbit computer, who had asked that no planet be named after him. In this manner Reinmuth was able to honour the man whilst honouring his wish:
*
1227 Geranium
*
1228 Scabiosa
*
1229 Tilia
*
1230 Riceia
*
1231 Auricula
*
1232 Cortusa
*
1233 Kobresia
*
1234 Elyna
1234 Elyna , provisional designation , is an Eoan asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 18 October 1931, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State ...
Later
1019 Strackea, also discovered by Reinmuth, was named after Stracke.
List of discovered minor planets
Karl Reinmuth is credited by the
Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 395
minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''mino ...
s made during 1914–1957, with an interruption from April 1943 to July 1949 due to the end and the aftermath of
WWII
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 opposing ...
.
Works
* The Herschel nebulas, De Gruyter, Berlin 1926
* Catalog of 6.500 exact photographic positions of small planets, brown, Karlsruhe 1953
References
External links
Obituaries
MPBu 7 (1979) 10
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinmuth, Karl Wilhelm
1892 births
1979 deaths
Discoverers of asteroids
Discoverers of comets
*
20th-century German astronomers
Scientists from Heidelberg