Freimut Börngen

Frankness Börngen (born 17 October 1930 in Halle) is a German astronomer.

Life

Börngen attended high school in Halle, where he took his Abitur in 1951. He studied physics at the Martin Luther University. After a short period in the field of medicine he was appointed by Judge Nicholas as a research assistant at the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory (now the Thuringian State Observatory ) launched in Tautenburg, where he worked until his retirement in 1995. Since his conversion to retirement he worked as a freelancer for the national observatory. Since 2010 he is widowed, he has two musicians as children: Cornelia, freelance cellist in Berlin, and Tobias, church musician in Magdeburg.

Work

Börngen explored galaxies with the Schmidt telescope of the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory. He was a member of the Commission 28 ( Galaxies ) of the IAU. Along the way, he discovered more than 500 asteroids (as of December 2005). The evaluation of the photographic plates for signs of asteroids initially he had in his spare time to make, since the search for minor planets for the GDR science managers not prestigious enough appeared. In the naming, he confined himself during the communist era to politically neutral names, so among other things, on topics from Thuringia, famous scientists or composers, including ( 2424) Tautenburg, ( 3245 ) Jensch, ( 3181 ) Ahnert ( 4134 ) Protective or ( 3941 ) Haydn. After the wall is Börngen increasingly and systematically addressed in the name of proposals for historical, cultural, scientific and geographical names and honored with individual names even earned amateur astronomers. Examples: ( 5224 ) Abbe, ( 8853 ) Gerd Lehmann ( 11496 ) Grass, ( 11547 ) Griesser, ( 13086 ) Sauerbruch, ( 16438 ) Knöfel, ( 19126 ), Otto Hahn, ( 19136 ) Strassmann and ( 52334 ) Oberammergau.

A number of the discovered in Tautenburg asteroids carrying the names of resistance fighters against Nazi oppression, such as ( 7256 ) Bonhoeffer ( 7571 ) White Rose ( 8171 ) and Stauffenberg ( 11075 ) Dönhoff. Names such as ( 17496 ) Augustine ( 27764 ) From Flue and ( 96205 ) Ararat finally document a keen interest in religious history topics.

Börngen frankness has earned with his always very elaborate justifications of asteroid names far beyond Germany's borders great reputation.

Honors

The Styrian Provincial Government gave frankness Börngen 1997 in the White Hall of Graz Castle, the Grand Decoration of Honour in Styria; he has given about 40 asteroids name with reference to Austria.

In 2006 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon of the Federal President Horst Köhler.

In November 2007 he was commissioned by the Salzburg Governor Gabi Burgstaller the friendship cup of the federal state of Salzburg and handed over to Franz -Xaver - Gruber Prize from the city of Hallein. Background of the latter award: Börngen 2004 had honored the composer of the famous Christmas carol "Silent Night" along with the text author Joseph Mohr by naming the asteroid ( 65675 ) Mohr- Gruber.

The International Astronomical Union honored him years ago with the asteroid ( 3859 ) Börngen who has been by Edward LG Bowell, discovered at the Anderson Mesa Station of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.