Rudolf Kippenhahn (24 May 1926 – 15 November 2020) was a German astrophysicist and science author.

Biography

Rudolf Kippenhahn was born in

Pernink Pernink (german: Bärringen) is a municipality and village in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Administrative parts Hamlets of Bludná and Rybná are administrative parts of Pern ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He originally studied mathematics and physics at the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

before changing to Astronomy. From 1975 to 1991, Kippenhahn was director of the

Max Planck Institute For Astrophysics The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) is a research institute located in Garching, just north of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is one of many scientific research institutes belonging to the Max Planck Society. The MPA is widely conside ...

Garching Garching bei München (''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a town in Bavaria, Germany, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments on its campus. It became a city on 14 September 1990. Location The ...

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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After 1991, Kippenhahn was an active published author in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, trying to popularise astronomical science research, in the same vein as Stephen Hawking's writing, for which he won the Bruno H. Bürgel prize. His books covered such diverse topics as astronomy, cryptology and atomic physics. In 2005, Kippenhahn was honoured by the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

with the

Eddington medal The Eddington Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. It is named after Sir Arthur Eddington. First awarded in 1953, the frequency of the prize has varied over the year ...

for his scientific research into the computation of the structure of star and of stellar evolution. A diagram displaying how the interior of a star evolves from the zero age main sequence to the later stages of its evolution are known as Kippenhahn Diagrams.https://www.tifr.res.in/~antia/wball_notes.pdf Normally these diagrams display information such as convective borders, sites of nuclear energy generation and sites of shell burning.

Selected publications

* *

Awards

* 1992 Bruno H. Bürgel Prize. * 2005

Eddington Medal The Eddington Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. It is named after Sir Arthur Eddington. First awarded in 1953, the frequency of the prize has varied over the year ...

* 2007

Karl Schwarzschild Medal The Karl Schwarzschild Medal, named after the astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild, is an award presented by the Astronomische Gesellschaft (German Astronomical Society) to eminent astronomers and astrophysicists. Recipients SourceGerman Astronomical ...

References

External links

sightandsound.com website showcasing some of Dr Rudolphs work.

Dr Rudolph delivering a lecture on Quasars at the University of Jena
1926 births 2020 deaths People from Karlovy Vary District Sudeten German people Naturalized citizens of Germany Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Max Planck Institute directors University of Erlangen-Nuremberg alumni {{Europe-astronomer-stub