Lutz D. Schmadel

Lutz Dieter Schmadel ( born July 2, 1942 in Berlin, 2012 ) was a German astronomer who (ARI ) was working at the University of Heidelberg at the Astronomical Institute rake.

Life

Schmadel was born in 1942 as the son of the journalist Walter Schmadel in Berlin.

Research on asteroids

Schmadel examined in particular the web properties of asteroids ( planetoids ). He discovered even more of these small bodies of the solar system, including ( 8661 ) Ratzinger ( 10114 ) Greifswald, ( 11508 ) and Stolte ( 15728 ) Karlmay.

He was the author of the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, provides reference information for the discovery and naming of 12,804 asteroids ( March 2006). Schmadel was even named an asteroid: his honor in 1977, discovered ( 2234 ) Schmadel named.

For his part, he hit for his boldly Börngen in September 1992 discovered asteroids with the provisional designation " 1992 RY " the name ( 21109 ) Sünkel - in honor of working in the astrometry geodesics Hans Sünkel (TU Graz). The International Astronomical Union endorsed this proposal in 2006. The asteroid is about 500 million kilometers from the Earth, like most in the main asteroid belt.

Works (selection)

• Dictionary of minor planet names ( 5th Edition ). Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg, 2003, ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
• Dictionary of minor planet names ( Addendum to the 5th edition ). Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg, 2006, ISBN 3-540-34360-1.
• Dictionary of minor planet names ( Online Edition). Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg, 2006, ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.