Rudolph Minkowski

Rudolph Minkowski (born Rudolf Leo Bernhard Minkowski /mɪŋˈkɔːfski, -ˈkɒf-/;[1] German: [mɪŋˈkɔfski]; May 28, 1895 – January 4, 1976) was a German-American astronomer.[2]

Rudolph Minkowski
Born(1895-05-28)May 28, 1895
Strasbourg, German Empire
DiedJanuary 4, 1976(1976-01-04) (aged 80)
Berkeley, California
NationalityGermany
Known forsupernovae
AwardsBruce Medal in 1961
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsPalomar Observatory

Biography
Asteroids discovered: 1 [3]
1620 GeographosSeptember 14, 1951

Minkowski was the son of Marie Johanna Siegel and physiologist Oskar Minkowski.[4][5] His uncle was Hermann Minkowski, a mathematician and one of Einstein's teachers in Zürich. Rudolph studied supernovae and, together with Walter Baade, divided them into two classes (Type I and Type II) based on their spectral characteristics. He and Baade also found optical counterparts to various radio sources.

He headed the National Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, a photographic atlas of the entire northern sky (and down to declination -22°) up to an apparent magnitude of 22.[2]

Together with Albert George Wilson, he co-discovered the near-Earth Apollo asteroid 1620 Geographos in 1951[6], and he also discovered Planetary Nebula M2-9. He additionally discovered a correlation between the luminosity of early-type galaxies and their velocity dispersion[7], which was later quantified by Faber and Jackson. He won the Bruce Medal in 1961.[2] The lunar crater Minkowski is named after him and his uncle. Also the Minkowski 2-9, planetary nebula[8] and the Minkowski's object dwarf galaxy near NGC 541 are named after him.[9]

Bibliography
  • Minkowski, R (1960), "International Cooperative Efforts Directed Toward Optical Identification of Radio Sources", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (published Jan 1960), 46 (1), pp. 13–9, Bibcode:1960PNAS...46...13M, doi:10.1073/pnas.46.1.13, PMC 284999, PMID 16590587
gollark: Or is it one? Can't remember.
gollark: I've got *two* SAlts!
gollark: Stalker Magpie Wyverns.
gollark: It might be this year's halloween dragon...
gollark: They got a ridiculous amount of forum PMs including that and many, many offers.

References
  1. "Minkowski". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. Kuhi, Leonard V. (March 1976). "Rudoph L. Minkowski". Physics Today. 29 (3): 78–80. doi:10.1063/1.3023389. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28.
  3. "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  4. Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present: I–M
  5. The Concise Dictionary of American Jewish Biography
  6. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1620) Geographos". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1620) Geographos. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 128. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1621. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  7. Minkowski, R. (1962), Internal Dispersion of Velocities in Other Galaxies
  8. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/125855
  9. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1958PASP...70..143M/0000143.000.html


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