Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

– 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) was a German

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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and a prolific discoverer of 395

minor planets According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''mino ...

Scientific career

From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the Heidelberg Observatory (german: Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl) an astronomical observatory on the Königstuhl hill above

in southern Germany. He was a member at the minor planet studies group at

Astronomisches Rechen-Institut The Astronomical Calculation Institute (german: Astronomisches Rechen-Institut; ARI) is a research institute in Heidelberg, Germany, dating from the 1700s. Beginning in 2005, the ARI became part of the Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg Univers ...

between 1947 and 1950, and later became "Oberobservator" or chief-observer at Heidelberg Observatory until his retirement in 1957. Reinmuth obtained more than 12,500 precise astrometric measurements of minor planets' positions on photographic plates, an enormous accomplishment before computer-based assistance existed.

Honours

The outer main-belt asteroid 1111 Reinmuthia, discovered by himself at Heidelberg in 1912, was named in his honour ().

Discoveries

Among his most notable discoveries are the two

near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...

s (NEOs)

1862 Apollo 1862 Apollo is a stony asteroid, approximately 1.5 kilometers in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object (NEO). It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory on 24 April 1932, but lost and not recovered until ...

, the namesake of the Apollo group which became the largest group of asteroids within the NEO category with nearly 8,000 members, and

69230 Hermes 69230 Hermes is a sub-kilometer sized asteroid and binary system on an eccentric orbit, classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, that passed Earth at approximately twice the distance of the Moon o ...

, famous for being a

lost asteroid A minor planet is "lost" when today's observers cannot find it, because its location is too uncertain to target observations. This happens if the orbital elements of a minor planet are not known accurately enough, typically because the observat ...

for more than half a century until its recovery in 2003, and for being the only unnumbered but named asteroid during that period. He also discovered several large Jupiter trojans including 911 Agamemnon, 1143 Odysseus, 1172 Äneas, 1173 Anchises, 1208 Troilus, 1404 Ajax, 1437 Diomedes and 1749 Telamon. The main-belt asteroid 5535 Annefrank, which he discovered in 1942 during World War II, was later visited by the Stardust spacecraft in 2002. His lowest numbered minor planet discovery is 796 Sarita, an asteroid from the middle region of the main-belt. Reinmuth also discovered two periodic comets of the

Jupiter family A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are ...

, namely 30P/Reinmuth and 44P/Reinmuth.

Meta-naming

The initials of the minor planets through , all discovered by Reinmuth, spell out "G. Stracke". Gustav Stracke was a German astronomer and orbit computer, who had asked that no planet be named after him. In this manner Reinmuth was able to honour the man whilst honouring his wish: * 1227 Geranium * 1228 Scabiosa * 1229 Tilia * 1230 Riceia * 1231 Auricula * 1232 Cortusa * 1233 Kobresia * 1234 Elyna Later 1019 Strackea, also discovered by Reinmuth, was named after Stracke.

List of discovered minor planets

Karl Reinmuth is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 395

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''mino ...

s made during 1914–1957, with an interruption from April 1943 to July 1949 due to the end and the aftermath of

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Works

* The Herschel nebulas, De Gruyter, Berlin 1926 * Catalog of 6.500 exact photographic positions of small planets, brown, Karlsruhe 1953

References

External links

Obituaries

MPBu 7 (1979) 10

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinmuth, Karl Wilhelm 1892 births 1979 deaths Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets * 20th-century German astronomers Scientists from Heidelberg