Anton Karl Thraen (17 January 1843,

Holungen Holungen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Eichsfeld in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2011, it is part of the municipality Sonnenstein,Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

– 18 February 1902,

Dingelstädt Dingelstädt () is a town in the district of Eichsfeld (district), Eichsfeld in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the upper course of the river Unstrut, south of Leinefelde-Worbis and northwest of Mühlhausen. The former municipalities Helm ...

) was a German

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and named two

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 ''minor ...

s, 442 Eichsfeldia and 443 Photographica.

Biography

Thraen was born on 17 January 1843 in Holungen, in the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

, where he attended the elementary school at that time. In 1863, he completed his schooling in Heiligenstadt and went to Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (1863–66), and the

University of Paderborn Paderborn University () is a public research university in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in 1972 and 20,308 students were enrolled at the university in the winter semester 2016/2017 in 62 different degree programmes. ...

(1866–68) and learned theology. Already in Munster, he also knew mathematical and astronomical lectures and helped at the observatory. From 1883 up to his death, he worked as a minister in Dingelstädt. Here, he organised charitable collections for the development of the hospital and the parish church. By night he often observed the sky with his

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

, particularly working on the orbits of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and minor planets, publishing his results in international technical periodicals. Despite going blind in his left eye, this work was continued. He observed the short-period Comet III (Wolf) in 1884-85 with 950 observations and in 1891-92 with 681 observations, and calculated its orbit to forecast the third return. Thraen also discovered several new asteroids, which received the name "Eichsfeldia" and the name "Photographica" from Professor Wolf. Thraen was honoured by the

Prussian state Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoller ...

in 1900 with the award of the Roten-Adlerordens, IV class. Only in 1902 at a conference in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

did he become personally acquainted with many astronomers, with whom he had previously only been in contact with by post. In August of that year, he fell ill with incurable gastric trouble, and died on 18 December 1902. Asteroid 4098 Thraen, discovered by Dr. Börngen of the

Karl Schwarzschild Observatory The Karl Schwarzschild Observatory (Officially: ''Thuringia State Observatory Tautenburg'') is a German astronomy, astronomical observatory in Tautenburg near Jena, Thuringia. It is owned and operated as under public law by the Thuringia, State of ...

in Tautenberg in 1987 is named for the Dingelstädter minister and astronomer. At his parents' house in Holungen in 1956, a plaque was attached in his memory. The city of

has a street named after Thraen.

References

External links

Infos and photos about Anton Threan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thraen, Anton 1843 births 1902 deaths People from Eichsfeld (district) Scientists from the Province of Saxony 19th-century German astronomers