Herbert Raab (born 24 January 1969 in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) is an Austrian

software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

and discoverer of

astronomical object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are of ...

Biography

Raab finished his studies of computer science at the

Johannes Kepler University of Linz The Johannes Kepler University Linz (German: ''Johannes Kepler Universität Linz'', short: ''JKU'') is a public university in Austria. It is located in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, diploma and doctoral degre ...

in 1995 as a graduate engineer. In 2012, he received the

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in ''Management for Engineers'' at the LIMAK business school in Linz, where he also graduated as

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in 2013. He works as a software engineer in the field of commercial software. In 1983, he joined the Astronomical Society of Linz (), and has been president of the society from 1996 until 2017. Since 1990, he has been developing the widely used software ''Astrometrica'', which is used for

astrometric Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. History ...

and photometric analysis of images of

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s and

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. Raab's most important observations include precise

astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, th ...

of the

comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 ( formally designated D/1993 F2) was a comet that broke apart in July 1992 and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects. ...

, which he observed together with

Erich Meyer Erich Meyer (born 6 August 1951) is an Austrian engineer, amateur astronomer and discoverer of asteroids. Astronomical career Between 1996 and 1999, using the private observatory Meyer/Obermair in Davidschlag (municipality Kirchschlag bei Li ...

and Erwin Obermair in 1993. These observations have significantly contributed to the subsequent prediction of the

impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

of this comet on the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. On 10 August 1997, he discovered the asteroid 13682 Pressberger together with

at the private observatory Meyer/Obermair in Davidschlag (municipality

Kirchschlag bei Linz Kirchschlag bei Linz is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany ...

, Austria). Furthermore, he was involved in three other discoveries of asteroids which were assigned as site discoveries to the observatory Davidschlag by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

''(see :Discoveries by the Davidschlag Observatory)''. During the

Occultation An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks f ...

of the star

HIP In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

76293 by the asteroid

1177 Gonnessia 1177 Gonnessia, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 99 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 November 1930, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers ...

on 18 May 2007, Raab discovered that the star is a close

double star In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a ...

, whose components have a separation of just 0.04". In May 1996, asteroid

3184 Raab 3184 Raab, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid and a potentially slow rotator from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 22 August 1949, by South African astronomer Ernes ...

was named in his honor, following a proposal of Brian G. Marsden and Gareth V. Williams from the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

(). On 4 April 1997, Raab was presented the Gold Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria.Recipients of Medals of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
(German). Retrieved 2015-01-13. His wife Agnes Raab (born 1969) is also an amateur astronomer and long-time member of the Astronomical Society of Linz. In early 2004, asteroid 49109 Agnesraab, was .

References

External links

Publications by Herbert Raab in the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freie Sicht auf die Sonnenfinsternis ''(Clear view on the solar eclipse)''
nachrichten.at, March 2015

astrometrica.at {{DEFAULTSORT:Raab, Herbert 1969 births 20th-century Austrian astronomers 21st-century Austrian astronomers Austrian computer scientists Discoverers of asteroids Living people People from Linz-Land District