Armin Otto Leuschner | |
|---|---|
 Leuschner around 1920 | |
| Born | January 16, 1868 |
| Died | April 22, 1953(1953-04-22) (aged 85) |
| Alma mater | University of Berlin |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
Armin Otto Leuschner (January 16, 1868 – April 22, 1953) was an Americanastronomer and educator.[1]
Leuschner was born on January 16, 1868, inDetroit, Michigan,[2] but raised inGermany. He returned to the United States for university studies, graduating from theUniversity of Michigan in 1888 with a degree in mathematics. Leuschner then became the first graduate student atLick Observatory, but due to conflicts with his advisor, Lick directorEdward S. Holden, he left Lick before finishing his Ph.D. Leuschner subsequently returned to Germany and attended theUniversity of Berlin, where in 1897 he earned his doctorate with a highly praised thesis on the orbits of comets.
Leuschner returned to California as an associate professor in astronomy atUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he remained for over half a century. He founded an observatory there for student instruction, later renamed in his honorLeuschner Observatory. Together with Lick directorJames E. Keeler, Leuschner shaped the combined graduate program at Berkeley and Lick into one of the nation's foremost centers of astronomical education. Leuschner's own research continued to focus on the orbits ofasteroids andcomets; this subject required tremendous amounts of detailed computation, which made the work well-suited to be shared with a long series of students, many of whom went on to successful astronomical careers of their own. More than sixty students received their doctorate under Leuschner's guidance.
In 1913, Leuschner became dean of the entire Graduate School at Berkeley, and later was appointed head of allWorld War I related training at the university.
He was a founding member of theAstronomical Society of the Pacific, served a term as the president of theAmerican Association of University Professors, and chaired theInternational Astronomical Union's committee on comets and minor planets for two decades.
Leuschner was one of the first astronomers to disputePluto as beingPlanet X as predicted byLowell.[3] By 1932 he was already suggesting that Pluto had a mass less than the Earth, and that the discovery of Pluto was an accidental by-product of the Lowell search.[4]
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Named after him
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