Friedrich Wilhelm Hans Ludendorff ( Dunowo, 26 May 1873 –

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, 26 June 1941) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 astrophysicist. He was the younger brother of General

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (; 9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general and politician. He achieved fame during World War I (1914–1918) for his central role in the German victories at Battle of Liège, Liège and Battle ...

. After studying physics, mathematics and astronomy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, he started to work as assistant at the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

in 1897. The following year he changed to the

Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is a German research institute. It is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam#Foundation of the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam .28AOP. ...

, where became observator (1905) and chief observator (1915). From 1921 until his retirement in 1938 he was director of the observatory. Between 1920 and 1930 he belonged to the board of the Astronomical Society. He authored several astronomical and astrophysical works (the first was about asteroids, following his graduation in 1896), but is better known for the Ludendorff Catalogue, that lists the most important stars in the

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars that is bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards its center. It can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member stars, all orbiting ...

Messier 13 Messier 13, or M13 (also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, the Hercules Globular Cluster, or the Great Hercules Cluster), is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation ...

, published in 1905. In 1908 he established the binary character of the star Mizar B (period: 175.6 days), together with American astronomer Edwin Brant Frost. He also authored several studies on the astronomy of Pre-Columbian civilizations, especially that of the

Mayas Maya () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical region. Today ...

Articles

*''Tafel zur Berechnung der Störungsfunction für die äussersten kleinen Planeten'', (1896), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 140, p. 197. *''Der grosse Sternhaufen im Herkules Messier 13'', (1905), Publikationen des Astrophysikalischen Observatoriums zu Potsdam; 15. Bd, Nr. 50. *''Notiz über den spektroskopischen Doppelstern gamma Geminorum'' (1912), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 192, p. 447. *''Weitere Untersuchungen über die Massen der spektroskopischen Doppelsterne'', (1920), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 211, p. 105. *''Handbuch der Astrophysik'' (1928). *''Zur Deutung des Dresdener Maya Kodex'', Sitzungsberichten der Preussischen Ahademie der Wissenschaften, núm. 11, Berlín, 1937. *''Versammlung der Astronomischen Gesellschaft'', (1939), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 268, p. 163. *''Die Astronomischen Inschriften der Maya'', (1940), Festschrift für Elis Strömgren. Astronomical Papers. Copenhagen: Einar Munksgaard, 1940., p. 143.

Sources

*Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS): 84 of his published articles (in German or English).

External links

Hans Ludendorff (in German)Ludendorff articles in NASA ADS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludendorff, Hans 20th-century German astronomers 1873 births 1941 deaths German untitled nobility Ludendorff family Academic staff of the University of Hamburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni