Max Wolf | |
|---|---|
 Max Wolf | |
| Born | Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (1863-06-21)21 June 1863 |
| Died | 3 October 1932(1932-10-03) (aged 69) Heidelberg, Germany |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
| Known for | Astrophotography |
| Awards | Bruce Medal(1930) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of Heidelberg |
| Doctoral advisor | Leo Königsberger |
| Doctoral students | August Kopff Heinrich Vogt |
| see§ List of discovered minor planets |
Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (21 June 1863 – 3 October 1932) was a Germanastronomer and a pioneer in the field ofastrophotography. He was the chairman of astronomy at theUniversity of Heidelberg and director of theHeidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory from 1902 until his death in 1932.
Max Wolf was born inHeidelberg, Germany on 21 June 1863, the son of medical doctor Franz Wolf. His father encouraged an interest in science and built an observatory for his son in the garden of the family home. It is from here that Wolf was credited with his first astronomical discovery, comet14P/Wolf, in 1884.[2]
Wolf attended his local university and, in 1888, at the age of 25, was awarded aPh.D. by theUniversity of Heidelberg. He spent one year of post-graduate study in Stockholm, the only significant time he would spend outside of Heidelberg in his life. He returned to theUniversity of Heidelberg and accepted the position ofprivat-docent in 1890. A popular lecturer in astronomy, he declined offers of positions from other institutions. In 1902 he was appointed Chair of Astronomy and Director of the newLandessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl observatory, positions he would hold until his death in 1932.[3]
While the new observatory was being built, Wolf was appointed to supervise the construction and outfitting of theastrophysics half of the observatory. He proved to be not only a capable supervisor but also a successful fundraiser. When sent to America to study the construction of the large new telescopes being built there, he returned not only with telescope plans but also with a grant of $10,000 from the American philanthropistCatherine Wolfe Bruce. Wolf immediately designed and ordered a doublerefractor telescope from American astronomer and instrument builderJohn Brashear. This instrument, known as theBruce double-astrograph, with parallel 16 in (41 cm) lenses and a fast f/5focal ratio, became the observatory's primary research telescope. Wolf also raised money for a 28 in (71 cm)reflector telescope, the first for the observatory, used for spectroscopy.[4]
In 1910, Wolf proposed to theCarl Zeiss optics firm the creation of a new instrument which would become known as theplanetarium.World War I intervened before the invention could be developed, but theCarl Zeiss company resumed this project after peace was restored. The first official public showing was at theDeutsches Museum inMunich, Germany on 21 October 1923.[5]
During his trip to America, Wolf was interested in learning more about the relatively new field ofastrophotography. He met the American astronomer and astrophotographerE.E. Barnard, and the two became lifelong correspondents, competitors, collaborators and friends. Wolf wrote a long obituary for Barnard upon his death in 1923.[6]
Heidelberg University became well known for astronomy under Wolf's leadership. Wolf himself was an active researcher, contributing numerous papers in many areas of astronomy up to the end of his life. He died in Heidelberg on 3 October 1932, at the age of 69. He was survived by his wife and three sons.[2]
Wolf started his career as a comet hunter and continued to discover them throughout his life. He discovered or co-discovered severalcomets, including14P/Wolf and43P/Wolf-Harrington. Wolf won a competition withE. E. Barnard on who would be the first to observe the return ofHalley's Comet (P1/Halley) in April 1910.[4]
He discoveredNova Aquilae 1927, a classical nova.
He discovered or co-discovered four supernovae:SN 1895A (a.k.a. VW Vir),SN 1909A (a.k.a. SS UMa),SN 1920A, and, withReinmuth,SN 1926A.
One of the many significant contributions Wolf made was in the determination of the nature ofdark nebulae. These areas of the sky, thought sinceWilliam Herschel's time to be "holes in the sky", were a puzzle to astronomers of the time. In collaboration withE. E. Barnard, Wolf proved, by careful photographic analysis, thatdark nebulae were huge clouds of fine opaque dust.[4]
Along with E. E. Barnard, Wolf appliedastrophotography to the observation of stars. TheBruce double-astrograph was originally designed to hunt dim asteroids but it was found to be ideally suited for the study of theproper motion of low-luminosity stars using much the same technique. In 1919 Wolf published a catalog of the locations of over one thousand stars along with their measuredproper motion. These stars are still commonly identified by his name and catalog number.[7] Among the stars he discovered isWolf 359, a dimred dwarf that was later found to be one ofthe nearest stars to the Solar System.[8] He continued to addproper motion star discoveries to this catalog throughout his life, with the catalog eventually totaling over 1500 stars, many more than all of his competitors combined.[9] These stars are significant because stars with low luminosity and highproper motion, such asBarnard's Star andWolf 359, are usually relatively close to theEarth and thus the stars in Wolf's catalog remain popular subjects for astronomical research. The methods used byE. E. Barnard and Wolf were continued byFrank Elmore Ross andGeorge Van Biesbroeck through the mid-20th century. Since that time, photographic plates have been gradually replaced with more sensitive electronicphotodetectors forastronomical surveys.[citation needed]
In 1891, Wolf discovered his first asteroid,323 Brucia, and named it afterCatherine Wolfe Bruce.[10] He pioneered the use of astrophotographic techniques to automate the discovery of asteroids, as opposed to older visual methods, as a result of which asteroid discovery rates sharply increased.[2] In time-exposure photographs, asteroids appear as short streaks due to their planetary motion with respect to fixed stars. Wolf discovered 248asteroids in his lifetime.[11]
Among his many discoveries was588 Achilles (the firstTrojan asteroid) in 1906, as well as two other Trojans:659 Nestor and884 Priamus.[12] He also discovered887 Alinda in 1918, which is now recognized as an Earth-crossingAmor asteroid (or sometimes classified as the namesake of its ownAlinda family).[13] Wolf's then-record number of discoveries was surpassed by his pupilKarl Wilhelm Reinmuth on 24 July 1933.[citation needed]
Superscript letters indicate co-discovery made with:[14]
The lunar craterWolf[18] as well as the main-belt asteroids827 Wolfiana and1217 Maximiliana were named in his honor.[19][20]
Minor planet1152 Pawona is named after bothJohann Palisa and Max Wolf, in recognition of their cooperation. The name was proposed by Swedish astronomer Bror Ansgar Asplind.Pawona is a combination of "Palisa" and "Wolf" (Pa, Wo) joined with a Latin feminine suffix.[21]
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