Sebastian von Hoerner | |
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| Born | Sebastian Rudolf Karl von Hoerner (1919-04-15)April 15, 1919 Görlitz,Lower Silesia, Germany |
| Died | January 7, 2003(2003-01-07) (aged 83) Esslingen am Neckar,Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen,University of Heidelberg |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Radio astronomy |
Sebastian Rudolf Karl von Hoerner (15 April 1919 – 7 January 2003) was a Germanastrophysicist andradio astronomer.
He was born inGörlitz,Lower Silesia. During WW II, von Hoerner served in the German Army on the Eastern Front. A bullet struck a pair of binoculars he was wearing on a strap around his neck, ricocheted up and blinded him in one eye. He was sent to Germany to recover and was there when the Front collapsed. After the end ofWorld War II he studied physics atUniversity of Göttingen. He obtained his doctorate at the same university in 1951 asCarl Friedrich von Weizsäcker. Together they conducted simulations that studied the formation ofstars andglobular clusters. He continued this work atAstronomical Calculation Institute (University of Heidelberg) withWalter Fricke. He obtained his habilitation in 1959 at the University of Heidelberg. In 1962 he moved toNational Radio Astronomy Observatory (Green Bank, West Virginia), where he collaborated, inter alia, withFrank Drake. He worked there, among others on the analysis of work and technical optimization ofradio telescopes. His research led to the development of a new method for the construction of radio telescopes, homology, later used in the construction of many of them. During this time, he was actively involved in discussions onSETI, the number of advancedcivilizations in thegalaxy, and the possibilitiesinterstellar travels. He was skeptical on these issues.[1][2]
In 1961, he published an article in which he was not optimistic about the survival time of species using machines. At the outset, he noted that the current state of mind (primacy ofscience, developingtechnology, searching forinterstellar communication) is just one of many possibilities and in the future it can be replaced by other interests.[3] Moreover, according to him, the progress of science and technology onEarth was driven by two factors – the struggle for domination and the desire for an easy life. The former leads to complete destruction, the latter to biological or psychical degeneration. Von Hoerner assumed that any civilization must disappear after some time and listed 4 possible causes of such a catastrophe:
He estimated the average duration of civilization at 6,500 years. He suggested the succession of technological species on a givenplanet over a time distance of hundreds of millions of years, and each habitable planet (one in 3 million stars) during its existence "produces" an average of 4 technological species. With these assumptions, the average distance between civilizations in theMilky Way is 1,000light-years.[1][4][5] Von Hoerner's calculations also show that the probability of establishing first contact with a civilization in the same phase of development as the earthly one is 0.5%. The most likely such contact is with a civilization that will be 12,000 years old and with a 75% probability that it will not be the first civilization on this planet.[4][5]
Hoerner died inEsslingen am Neckar,Baden-Württemberg, at age 83. His daughter,Hanna von Hoerner, was also an astrophysicist.[6]
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