Rudolph Minkowski
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Born | (1895-05-28)May 28, 1895 |
Died | January 4, 1976(1976-01-04) (aged 80) |
Nationality | German |
Known for | supernovae |
Awards | Bruce Medal in 1961 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Institutions | Palomar Observatory |
Rudolph Minkowski (born Rudolf Leo Bernhard Minkowski /mɪŋˈkɔːfski, -ˈkɒf-/;[1] German: [mɪŋˈkɔfski]; May 28, 1895 – January 4, 1976) was a German-American astronomer.[2]
1620 Geographos | September 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.[6] 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,[7] and he also discovered Planetary Nebula M2-9. He additionally discovered a correlation between the luminosity of early-type galaxies and their velocity dispersion,[8] 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[9] and the Minkowski's object dwarf galaxy near NGC 541 are named after him.[10]
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