Wilhelm Oswald Lohse (13 February 1845 – 14 May 1915) 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 ...

. He first worked at the private Bothkamp Observatory, and starting in 1874 at the Potsdam Astrophysical Observatory, being its Chief Astronomer at the time of his death. His main work involved the investigation of the surface features of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

. After this he explored

binary star A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...

s, and finally worked on the

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

of stars, which included laboratory experiments regarding the spectra of metals. Craters on Mars and on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

were named in his honor.

External links

Obituaries

AN 201 (1915) 47/48

1845 births 1915 deaths 19th-century German astronomers 20th-century German astronomers {{Germany-astronomer-stub