Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs (11 August 1912 – 9 March 1954) 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 ...

. She made key observations of

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

s. Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs was born in

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

(

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ( ), was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to ...

). She studied in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

from 1931 to 1933. After nine years of withdrawal into family life, she studied from 1942 until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. From 1945, she worked closely with professor

Cuno Hoffmeister Cuno Hoffmeister (2 February 1892 – 2 January 1968) was a German astronomer, observer and discoverer of variable stars, comets and minor planets, and founder of Sonneberg Observatory. Born in Sonneberg in 1892 to Carl and Marie Hoffmeister, Cu ...

as an assistant astronomer at the

Sonneberg Observatory Sonneberg Observatory () is an astronomical observatory located at 638 m altitude on Erbisbühl in the Neufang district of Sonneberg, Germany. The observatory was founded in 1925 on the initiative of Cuno Hoffmeister by the town of Sonneber ...

. In 1951, she received a doctorate in astrophysics from the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. At Sonneberg Observatory Eva Rohlfs met the astronomer Paul Oswald Ahnert and they were married in 1952. From the Sonneberg observatory she made important observations of the variable stars that he detailed in the article "On the structure and origin of the Perseid current" () included in the Observatory Publications Sonneberg Astronomical. Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs died at the age of 41 in

Sonneberg Sonneberg () in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home ...

Bibliography

* ''"Strahlungsdruck, Poynting-Robertson-Effekt und interstellare Materie."'' Mitteilung der Sternwarte Sonneberg 43 (1953) * ''"Vorläufige Mitteilung über Versuche zum Nachweis von Meteoritischem Staub."'' Mitteilung der Sternwarte Sonneberg 45 (1954) * ''"Zur Struktur der Entstehung des Perseidenstroms."'' Veröffentlichung der Sternwarte Sonneberg (part 2, pp. 5–38) (1956)

Obituaries

AN 281 (1954) 284
(one sentence) *

: ''"Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs"'' (''Die Sterne'' issue 5/6, 1954, pp. 103–105)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahnert-Rohlfs, Eva 1912 births 1954 deaths 20th-century German astronomers German women astronomers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Jena alumni Academic staff of the University of Jena German women academics German women scientists 20th-century German women scientists