Viktor Knorre | |
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| Born | Viktor Karlovich Knorre (1840-10-04)4 October 1840 Nikolayev, Russian Empire |
| Died | 25 August 1919(1919-08-25) (aged 78) Berlin, Germany |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
| Organization(s) | University of Berlin,Berlin Observatory |
| Known for | DiscoveredKoronis and three other minor planets |
| Parent | Karl Friedrich Knorre |
Viktor Karlovich Knorre (Russian:Виктор Карлович Кнорре; 4 October 1840 – 25 August 1919) was a Russianastronomer ofGerman origin. He worked in Nikolaev, Pulkovo and Berlin and is best known for having discovered158 Koronis and three other minor planets. Knorre's father,Karl Friedrich Knorre, and grandfather,Ernst Friedrich Knorre, were also prominent astronomers. Recently, the main-belt asteroid14339 Knorre was named in honor of the three generations of Knorre astronomers.[1]
Knorre was born into a three-generation astronomer family.[2] His grandfather,Ernst Friedrich Knorre (1759–1810),[3] had moved from Germany toDorpat (now Tartu,Estonia) where he worked (1803–10) asObservator for theDorpat observatory (opened in 1802) and professor of Mathematics at theUniversity of Dorpat.Victor Knorre's father,Karl Friedrich Knorre (1801–1883),[3] set up and was director of theNikolayev Astronomical Observatory starting in 1827.
Viktor was born the fifth of fifteen children inNikolayev (now Mykolaiv, Ukraine). He moved toBerlin in 1862 to study astronomy[4] withWilhelm Julius Foerster. He worked atPulkovo Observatory in 1867 as an astronomical calculator[5] and then atBerlin Observatory, where his father moved circa 1871.
From 1873, he was observer at the Berlin Observatory. Knorre discovered fourasteroids.[6] He did not teach students at theUniversity of Berlin; instead he gave introductions into the use of the telescopes of the Observatory. In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy. Knorre took an interest in the improvement of astronomical equipment, and published papers on an improvedequatorial telescope mount, referred to as the "Knorre & Heele" mount.[4]
| 158 Koronis | 4 January 1876 | MPC |
| 215 Oenone | 7 April 1880 | MPC |
| 238 Hypatia | 1 July 1884 | MPC |
| 271 Penthesilea | 13 October 1887 | MPC |
Knorre was also known as a strong chess player, playing among others againstAdolf Anderssen,Gustav Neumann andJohannes Zukertort. He took part in several chess tournaments during the 1860s.[7][8] According to the ChessMetrics site, He was ranked among top 50 players in the world at his peak.
In theTwo Knights Defense, theKnorre Variation (ECO code C59) isnamed after him. Continuing from the main line, it is characterized by the moves 8.Be2 h6 9.Nf3 e4 10.Ne5 Bd6 11.d4 Qc7 12.Bd2.[9] The Knorre variation of the Open defense in theRuy Lopez, characterized by the move 6. Nc3, is also named after Knorre.[10]
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