Rudolf Kippenhahn (24 May 1926 – 15 November 2020) was a German astrophysicist and science author.

Biography

Rudolf Kippenhahn was born in Pernink,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. He originally studied mathematics and physics at the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

before changing to Astronomy. From 1975 to 1991, Kippenhahn was director of the

Max Planck Institute For Astrophysics The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) is a research institute located in Garching, just north of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is one of many scientific research institutes belonging to the Max Planck Society. The MPA is widely consid ...

Garching Garching bei München (, ''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a city in Bavaria, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments, located at Campus Garching. History Spatial urban planning Garching was ...

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. After 1991, Kippenhahn was an active published author 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 ...

, trying to popularise astronomical science research, in the same vein as

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

's writing, for which he won the Bruno H. Bürgel prize. His books covered such diverse topics as astronomy, cryptology and atomic physics. In 2005, Kippenhahn was honoured by the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

with the

Eddington medal The Eddington Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. It is named after Sir Arthur Eddington. First awarded in 1953, the frequency of the prize has varied over the ye ...

for his scientific research into the computation of the structure of star and of stellar evolution. A diagram displaying how the interior of a star evolves from the zero age main sequence to the later stages of its evolution are known as "Kippenhahn diagrams." Normally these diagrams display information such as convective borders, sites of nuclear energy generation and sites of shell burning.

Selected publications

* * *

Awards

* 1992 Bruno H. Bürgel Prize. * 2005

Eddington Medal The Eddington Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. It is named after Sir Arthur Eddington. First awarded in 1953, the frequency of the prize has varied over the ye ...

* 2007

Karl Schwarzschild Medal The Karl Schwarzschild Medal, named after the astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild, is an award presented by the Astronomische Gesellschaft (German Astronomical Society) to eminent astronomers and astrophysicists. Recipients SourceGerman Astronomical ...

References

External links

sightandsound.com website showcasing some of Dr Rudolphs work.

Dr Rudolph delivering a lecture on Quasars at the University of Jena
1926 births 2020 deaths People from Karlovy Vary District Sudeten German people Naturalized citizens of Germany Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Max Planck Institute directors University of Erlangen–Nuremberg alumni {{Europe-astronomer-stub