Wulff-Dieter Heintz (3 June 1930 – 10 June 2006) 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 **Ge ...

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 ...

who worked the latter part of his career in the United States. He was

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

. He specialised in the characterisation of

binary stars 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 ...

using

astrometry 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. His ...

Life

Wulff-Dieter Heintz was born in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

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 ...

on 3 June 1930. He earned his doctorate in astronomy from the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

in 1953. He did research at th
University Observatory Munich's
Southern Station on

Mount Stromlo Mount Stromlo (formerly Mount Strom ) is a mountain with an elevation of that is situated in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The mountain is most notable as the location of the Mount Stromlo Observatory. The mountain forms part ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Peter van de Kamp Piet van de Kamp (December 26, 1901 in Kampen (Overijssel), KampenLaurence W. Fredrick, Peter van de Kamp (1901–1995)', Publications of the Astronomical Socitiey of the Pacific 108:556–559, July 1996 – May 18, 1995 in Amsterdam), known a ...

invited him to the

Sproul Observatory Sproul Observatory was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Swarthmore College. It was located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States, and named after William Cameron Sproul, the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania, who graduated ...

to be a visiting professor in 1969. He subsequently joined the staff and became observatory director upon the retirement of van de Kamp in 1972. He remained a

citizen. He was an avid and expert

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player and authored a book on the game in German.

The Barnard's Star affair

, Wulff's predecessor at Swarthmore, made claims since the 1960s of a

planetary system A planetary system is a set of gravitationally In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interacti ...

around

Barnard's Star Barnard's Star is a red dwarf about six light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the fourth-nearest-known individual star to the Sun after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system, and the closest star in the ...

. After van de Kamp's retirement in 1972, the

photographic plates Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...

made using the Sproul refractor telescope were shown to be flawed, affecting Van de Kamp's

claim as well as claims of planetary systems around other near-by stars made at the same time by staff astronomer

Sarah Lippincott Sarah Lee Lippincott (October 26, 1920 – February 28, 2019), also known as Sarah Lee Lippincott Zimmerman, was an American astronomer. She was professor emerita of astronomy at Swarthmore College and director emerita of the college's Sproul Ob ...

. Upon his assumption of directorship in 1973, Wulff began questioning the findings of his former colleague and began publishing criticisms from 1976 onwards; Van de Kamp never admitted any error and the two friends are reported to have become estranged over this affair.

Later life and death

Heintz retired from active teaching in 1998 but remained a frequent and popular guest at the college. He died on 10 June 2006, in

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Swarthmore ( , ) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Swarthmore was originally named "Westdale" in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to "Swarthmore" after the es ...

after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 76.

References

External links

Barnard's Wobble1975 Swarthmore College Faculty photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heintz, Wulff Dieter 20th-century German astronomers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Swarthmore College faculty 1930 births 2006 deaths