Max Wolf

Max Wolf
Max Wolf
Born	Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (1863-06-21)June 21, 1863 Heidelberg, Germany (Bund)
Died	October 3, 1932(1932-10-03) (aged 69) Heidelberg, Germany (Weimar)
Nationality	German
Alma mater	University of Heidelberg
Known for	Astrophotography
Awards	Bruce Medal (1930)
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	University of Heidelberg
Doctoral advisor	Leo Königsberger
Doctoral students	August Kopff Heinrich Vogt Wilhelm Lorenz

Minor planets discovered: 248 ^[1]

see § List of discovered minor planets

Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius "Max" Wolf (June 21, 1863 – October 3, 1932) was a German astronomer and a pioneer in the field of astrophotography. He was chairman of astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory from 1902 until his death.

Early life[edit]

Max Wolf was born in Heidelberg, Germany on June 21, 1863, the son of medical doctor Franz Wolf. His father encouraged an interest in science and built an observatory for his son in the garden of the family home. It is from here that Wolf was credited with his first astronomical discovery, comet 14P/Wolf, in 1884.^[2]

Life at the university[edit]

Wolf attended his local university and, in 1888, at the age of 25, was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Heidelberg. He spent one year of post-graduate study in Stockholm, the only significant time he would spend outside of Heidelberg in his life. He returned to the University of Heidelberg and accepted the position of privat-docent in 1890. A popular lecturer in astronomy, he declined offers of positions from other institutions. In 1902 he was appointed Chair of Astronomy and Director of the new Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl observatory, positions he would hold until his death in 1932.^[3]

While the new observatory was being built Wolf was appointed to supervise the construction and outfitting of the astrophysics half of the observatory. He proved to be not only a capable supervisor but also a successful fundraiser. When sent to America to study the construction of the large new telescopes being built there he returned not only with telescope plans but also with a grant of $10,000 from the American philanthropist Catherine Wolfe Bruce. Wolf immediately designed and ordered a double refractor telescope from American astronomer and instrument builder John Brashear. This instrument, known as the Bruce double-astrograph, with parallel 16 in (41 cm) lenses and a fast f/5 focal ratio, became the observatory's primary research telescope. Wolf also raised money for a 28 in (71 cm) reflector telescope, the first for the observatory, used for spectroscopy.^[4]

In 1910 Wolf proposed to the Carl Zeiss optics firm the creation of a new instrument which would become known as the planetarium. World War I intervened before the invention could be developed, but the Carl Zeiss company resumed this project after peace was restored. The first official public showing was at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany on October 21, 1923.^[5]

During his trip to America Wolf was interested in learning more about the relatively new field of astrophotography. He met the American astronomer and astrophotographer E.E. Barnard, and the two became lifelong correspondents, competitors, collaborators and friends. Wolf wrote a long obituary for Barnard upon his death in 1923.^[6]

Later life and death[edit]

Heidelberg University became well known for astronomy under Wolf's leadership. Wolf himself was an active researcher, contributing numerous papers in many areas of astronomy up to the end of his life. He died in Heidelberg on October 3, 1932, at the age of 69. He was survived by his widow and three sons.^[2]

Comets and novae[edit]

Wolf started his career as a comet hunter and continued to discover them throughout his life. He discovered or co-discovered several comets, including 14P/Wolf and 43P/Wolf-Harrington. Wolf won a competition with E. E. Barnard on who would be the first to observe the return of Halley's Comet (P1/Halley) in April 1910.^[4]

He discovered or co-discovered four supernovae: SN 1895A (a.k.a. VW Vir), SN 1909A (a.k.a. SS UMa), SN 1920A, and, with Reinmuth, SN 1926A.

Dark nebulae[edit]

One of the many significant contributions Wolf made was in the determination of the nature of dark nebulae. These areas of the sky, thought since William Herschel's time to be "holes in the sky", were a puzzle to astronomers of the time. In collaboration with E. E. Barnard, Wolf proved, by careful photographic analysis, that dark nebulae were huge clouds of fine opaque dust.^[4]

Star catalog[edit]

Along with E. E. Barnard, Wolf applied astrophotography to the observation of stars. The Bruce double-astrograph was originally designed to hunt dim asteroids but it was found to be ideally suited for the study of the proper motion of low-luminosity stars using much the same technique. In 1919 Wolf published a catalog of the locations of over one thousand stars along with their measured proper motion. These stars are still commonly identified by his name and catalog number.^[7] Among the stars he discovered is Wolf 359, a dim red dwarf that was later found to be one of the nearest stars to our solar system.^[8] He continued to add proper motion star discoveries to this catalog throughout his life, with the catalog eventually totaling over 1500 stars, many more than all of his competitors combined.^[9] These stars are significant because stars with low luminosity and high proper motion, such as Barnard's Star and Wolf 359, are usually relatively close to the Earth and thus the stars in Wolf's catalog remain popular subjects for astronomical research. The methods used by E. E. Barnard and Wolf were continued by Frank Elmore Ross and George Van Biesbroeck through the mid-20th century. Since that time photographic plates have been gradually replaced with more sensitive electronic photodetectors for astronomical surveys.

Asteroids[edit]

In 1891, Wolf discovered his first asteroid, 323 Brucia, and named it after Catherine Wolfe Bruce. He pioneered the use of astrophotographic techniques to automate the discovery of asteroids, as opposed to older visual methods, as a result of which asteroid discovery rates sharply increased. In time-exposure photographs, asteroids appear as short streaks due to their planetary motion with respect to fixed stars. Wolf discovered more than 200 asteroids in his lifetime.

Among his many discoveries was 588 Achilles (the first Trojan asteroid) in 1906, as well as two other Trojans: 659 Nestor and 884 Priamus. He also discovered 887 Alinda in 1918, which is now recognized as an Earth-crossing Amor asteroid (or sometimes classified as the namesake of its own Alinda family). Wolf's then-record 248 discoveries were surpassed by his pupil Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth on July 24, 1933.

List of discovered minor planets[edit]

323 Brucia	22 December 1891	list
325 Heidelberga	4 March 1892	list
328 Gudrun	18 March 1892	list
329 Svea	21 March 1892	list
330 Adalberta	2 February 1910	list
332 Siri	19 March 1892	list
333 Badenia	22 August 1892	list
334 Chicago	23 August 1892	list
339 Dorothea	25 September 1892	list
340 Eduarda	25 September 1892	list
341 California	25 September 1892	list
342 Endymion	17 October 1892	list
343 Ostara	15 November 1892	list
351 Yrsa	16 December 1892	list
352 Gisela	12 January 1893	list
353 Ruperto-Carola	16 January 1893	list
385 Ilmatar	1 March 1894	list
386 Siegena	1 March 1894	list
391 Ingeborg	1 November 1894	list
392 Wilhelmina	4 November 1894	list

393 Lampetia	4 November 1894	list
399 Persephone	23 February 1895	list
401 Ottilia	16 March 1895	list
407 Arachne	13 October 1895	list
408 Fama	13 October 1895	list
412 Elisabetha	7 January 1896	list
413 Edburga	7 January 1896	list
415 Palatia	7 February 1896	list
417 Suevia	6 May 1896	list
418 Alemannia	7 September 1896	list
419 Aurelia	7 September 1896	list
420 Bertholda	7 September 1896	list
421 Zahringia	7 September 1896	list
434 Hungaria	11 September 1898	list
435 Ella	11 September 1898	list [A]
436 Patricia	13 September 1898	list [A]
442 Eichsfeldia	15 February 1899	list [A]
443 Photographica	17 February 1899	list [A]
446 Aeternitas	27 October 1899	list [A]
447 Valentine	27 October 1899	list [A]

448 Natalie	27 October 1899	list [A]
449 Hamburga	31 October 1899	list [A]
450 Brigitta	10 October 1899	list [A]
455 Bruchsalia	22 May 1900	list [A]
456 Abnoba	4 June 1900	list [A]
457 Alleghenia	15 September 1900	list [A]
458 Hercynia	21 September 1900	list [A]
459 Signe	22 October 1900	list
460 Scania	22 October 1900	list
461 Saskia	22 October 1900	list
462 Eriphyla	22 October 1900	list
463 Lola	31 October 1900	list
464 Megaira	9 January 1901	list
465 Alekto	13 January 1901	list
466 Tisiphone	17 January 1901	list [B]
467 Laura	9 January 1901	list
468 Lina	18 January 1901	list
471 Papagena	7 June 1901	list
473 Nolli	13 February 1901	list
474 Prudentia	13 February 1901	list

480 Hansa	21 May 1901	list [B]
482 Petrina	3 March 1902	list
483 Seppina	4 March 1902	list
484 Pittsburghia	29 April 1902	list
488 Kreusa	26 June 1902	list [B]
490 Veritas	3 September 1902	list
491 Carina	3 September 1902	list
492 Gismonda	3 September 1902	list
493 Griseldis	7 September 1902	list
494 Virtus	7 October 1902	list
495 Eulalia	25 October 1902	list
496 Gryphia	25 October 1902	list
499 Venusia	24 December 1902	list
500 Selinur	16 January 1903	list
501 Urhixidur	18 January 1903	list
502 Sigune	19 January 1903	list
509 Iolanda	28 April 1903	list
512 Taurinensis	23 June 1903	list
513 Centesima	24 August 1903	list
514 Armida	24 August 1903	list

515 Athalia	20 September 1903	list
520 Franziska	27 October 1903	list [C]
522 Helga	10 January 1904	list
524 Fidelio	14 March 1904	list
526 Jena	14 March 1904	list
527 Euryanthe	20 March 1904	list
528 Rezia	20 March 1904	list
529 Preziosa	20 March 1904	list
530 Turandot	11 April 1904	list
531 Zerlina	12 April 1904	list
532 Herculina	20 April 1904	list
539 Pamina	2 August 1904	list
540 Rosamunde	3 August 1904	list
541 Deborah	4 August 1904	list
549 Jessonda	15 November 1904	list
550 Senta	16 November 1904	list
551 Ortrud	16 November 1904	list
552 Sigelinde	14 December 1904	list
553 Kundry	27 December 1904	list
555 Norma	14 January 1905	list

557 Violetta	26 January 1905	list
558 Carmen	9 February 1905	list
559 Nanon	8 March 1905	list
560 Delila	13 March 1905	list
561 Ingwelde	26 March 1905	list
562 Salome	3 April 1905	list
565 Marbachia	9 May 1905	list
570 Kythera	30 July 1905	list
573 Recha	19 September 1905	list
574 Reginhild	19 September 1905	list
575 Renate	19 September 1905	list
577 Rhea	20 October 1905	list
578 Happelia	1 November 1905	list
580 Selene	17 December 1905	list
586 Thekla	21 February 1906	list
587 Hypsipyle	22 February 1906	list
588 Achilles	22 February 1906	list
590 Tomyris	4 March 1906	list
592 Bathseba	18 March 1906	list
594 Mireille	27 March 1906	list

597 Bandusia	16 April 1906	list
598 Octavia	13 April 1906	list
601 Nerthus	21 June 1906	list
605 Juvisia	27 August 1906	list
609 Fulvia	24 September 1906	list
610 Valeska	26 September 1906	list
641 Agnes	8 September 1907	list
642 Clara	8 September 1907	list
659 Nestor	23 March 1908	list
683 Lanzia	23 July 1909	list
692 Hippodamia	5 November 1901	list [D]
707 Steina	22 December 1910	list
712 Boliviana	19 March 1911	list
733 Mocia	16 September 1912	list
798 Ruth	21 November 1914	list
800 Kressmannia	20 March 1915	list
801 Helwerthia	20 March 1915	list
802 Epyaxa	20 March 1915	list
805 Hormuthia	17 April 1915	list
806 Gyldenia	18 April 1915	list

807 Ceraskia	18 April 1915	list
809 Lundia	11 August 1915	list
810 Atossa	8 September 1915	list
811 Nauheima	8 September 1915	list
813 Baumeia	28 November 1915	list
815 Coppelia	2 February 1916	list
816 Juliana	8 February 1916	list
817 Annika	6 February 1916	list
818 Kapteynia	21 February 1916	list
819 Barnardiana	3 March 1916	list
820 Adriana	30 March 1916	list
821 Fanny	31 March 1916	list
822 Lalage	31 March 1916	list
823 Sisigambis	31 March 1916	list
826 Henrika	28 April 1916	list
831 Stateira	20 September 1916	list
832 Karin	20 September 1916	list
833 Monica	20 September 1916	list
834 Burnhamia	20 September 1916	list
835 Olivia	23 September 1916	list

836 Jole	23 September 1916	list
837 Schwarzschilda	23 September 1916	list
838 Seraphina	24 September 1916	list
839 Valborg	24 September 1916	list
840 Zenobia	25 September 1916	list
841 Arabella	1 October 1916	list
842 Kerstin	1 October 1916	list
845 Naema	16 November 1916	list
860 Ursina	22 January 1917	list
861 Aida	22 January 1917	list
862 Franzia	28 January 1917	list
863 Benkoela	9 February 1917	list
865 Zubaida	15 February 1917	list
866 Fatme	25 February 1917	list
868 Lova	26 April 1917	list
870 Manto	12 May 1917	list
871 Amneris	14 May 1917	list
872 Holda	21 May 1917	list
873 Mechthild	21 May 1917	list
874 Rotraut	25 May 1917	list

875 Nymphe	19 May 1917	list
879 Ricarda	22 July 1917	list
880 Herba	22 July 1917	list
881 Athene	22 July 1917	list
883 Matterania	14 September 1917	list
884 Priamus	22 September 1917	list
887 Alinda	3 January 1918	list
888 Parysatis	2 February 1918	list
889 Erynia	5 March 1918	list
890 Waltraut	11 March 1918	list
891 Gunhild	17 May 1918	list
892 Seeligeria	31 May 1918	list
893 Leopoldina	31 May 1918	list
894 Erda	4 June 1918	list
895 Helio	11 July 1918	list
896 Sphinx	1 August 1918	list
897 Lysistrata	3 August 1918	list
898 Hildegard	3 August 1918	list
899 Jokaste	3 August 1918	list
900 Rosalinde	10 August 1918	list

901 Brunsia	30 August 1918	list
904 Rockefellia	29 October 1918	list
907 Rhoda	12 November 1918	list
908 Buda	30 November 1918	list
914 Palisana	4 July 1919	list
919 Ilsebill	30 October 1918	list
927 Ratisbona	16 February 1920	list
946 Poësia	11 February 1921	list
949 Hel	11 March 1921	list
972 Cohnia	18 January 1922	list
1008 La Paz	31 October 1923	list
1021 Flammario	11 March 1924	list
1038 Tuckia	24 November 1924	list
1039 Sonneberga	24 November 1924	list
1053 Vigdis	16 November 1925	list
1069 Planckia	28 January 1927	list
1134 Kepler	25 September 1929	list
1141 Bohmia	4 January 1930	list
1169 Alwine	30 August 1930	list [E]
1178 Irmela	13 March 1931	list

1179 Mally	19 March 1931	list
1203 Nanna	5 October 1931	list
1214 Richilde	1 January 1932	list
1219 Britta	6 February 1932	list
1365 Henyey	9 September 1928	list
1514 Ricouxa	22 August 1906	list
1661 Granule	31 March 1916	list
1703 Barry	2 September 1930	list
1967 Menzel	1 November 1905	list
2017 Wesson	20 September 1903	list
2119 Schwall	30 August 1930	list [E]
2298 Cindijon	2 October 1915	list
2373 Immo	4 August 1929	list
2443 Tomeileen	24 January 1906	list
2483 Guinevere	17 August 1928	list
2533 Fechtig	3 November 1905	list
2650 Elinor	14 March 1931	list
2732 Witt	19 March 1926	list
3034 Climenhaga	24 September 1917	list
3202 Graff	3 January 1908	list

3396 Muazzez	15 October 1915	list
3626 Ohsaki	4 August 1929	list
3907 Kilmartin	14 August 1904	list
4588 Wislicenus	13 March 1931	list
4775 Hansen	3 October 1927	list
4809 Robertball	5 September 1928	list
5702 Morando	16 March 1931	list
5926 Schönfeld	4 August 1929	list
Co-discovery made with: A A. Schwassmann B L. Carnera C P. Götz D A. Kopff E M. Ferrero

Awards and honors[edit]

• Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society, in 1912.
• Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1914.
• Bruce Medal in 1930.

The lunar crater Wolf as well as the main-belt asteroids 827 Wolfiana and 1217 Maximiliana were named in his honor.

Other astronomers named Wolf[edit]

• Marek Wolf. The Czech astronomer is also a discoverer of minor planets. He is credited as "M. Wolf" by the Minor Planet Center, while the discoveries by Max Wolf are credited with "M. F. Wolf".
• Charles Wolf, a French astronomer and co-discoverer of the Wolf-Rayet stars.
• German astronomers Christian Wolf and Ulrich Wolff (amateur from Berlin), as well as American astronomer Chris Wolfe have also discovered minor planets.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Max Wolf at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• The Bruce Medalists

Obituaries[edit]

• MacPherson, Hector, Observatory 55, 355-59 (1932)
• Reynolds, J.H., MNRAS 93, 236-238 (1933)