Wolfgang R. Dick

Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy | BKG · Department of Geodesy

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) was established by the IAU and the IUGG in 1987. A short outline of its history, its services to the astronomical, geodetic and geophysical communities and of its future prospects is given. Special emphasis is made on IERS' relation to astronomy.

The increased interest of the public in UTC and the leap second demands popular explanations on its background, practice, and future. This paper gives some hints on how to talk about this matter to different audiences and to journalists. It con-centrates on the following topics: (1) Background: Explaining the difference be-tween the slow increase o...

This IERS Technical Note includes the description of DTRF2014 and JTRF2014, as well as their inter-comparisons with respect to the official IERS solution, the ITRF2014. It comprises also evaluations of the three solutions by the IERS Technique Centers (IDS, IGS, ILRS and IVS) who constantly provide input solutions to the ITRF. In addition to DGFI,...

The life of the optician and historian of optics and astronomy Rolf Riekher is outlined. - Note: The bibliography of Rolf Riekher, which is not part of the laudation but to which the text refers, is added. Entry No. 39 in the bibliography contained two typos in special characters in the original, which have been corrected here.

Paul Ahnert was one of the last astronomers to make it from amateur astronomer to professional scientist without formal training. He was a passionate observer of variable stars and solar system bodies. He set down his observations and conclusions in numerous scientific publications. However, he is best known for 40 volumes of his Kalender für Stern...

AstroGen, The Astronomy Genealogy Project (https://astrogen.aas.org) is reviewed and compared with similar projects. - This is a rough translation of "[Rezension / Review:] AstroGen, The Astronomy Genealogy Project" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367020391).

AstroGen, The Astronomy Genealogy Project (https://astrogen.aas.org) is reviewed and compared with similar projects. - A rough English translation is available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367020660.

In 1776, a remarkable celestial atlas was published in Paris with the title Atlas céleste de Flamstéed, whose author is given as "J. Fortin". Until now, it was very often assumed that the author was the instrument maker Jean Nicolas Fortin (1750-1831). We show on the basis of his death certificate and several other indications that the author was t...

In 1776, a remarkable celestial atlas was published in Paris with the title Atlas céleste de Flamstéed, whose author is given as “J. Fortin”. Until now, it was very often assumed that the author was the instrument maker Jean Nicolas Fortin (1750–1831). We show on the basis of his death certificate and several other indications that the author was t...

The celestial atlas "Uranometria nova" by Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander from 1843 is described and placed in the historical development of celestial cartography. Text in English and Italian.

Short biography and tribute to the teacher and historian of astronomy Hans Gaab. - Kurzbiographie und Würdigung des Lehrers und Astronomiehistorikers Hans Gaab.

On the occasion of the 65th birthday of the teacher and historian of astronomy Hans Gaab, the editors have compiled a collection of 68 of his articles and reviews on the history of astronomy, supplemented by an autobiography, a biographical introduction, a bibliography of all his publications, and tributes by colleagues and students. - Aus Anlass d...

A short biography of Rolf Riekher and a portrait are given. (The file is available for download). - This is a translation of https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354020837. For more about the author, see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253380517.

A short biography of Rolf Riekher and a portrait are given. (The file is available for download). - For more about the author, see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253380517.

Preface of the editors to the book "Der Briefwechsel Georg von Reichenbachs" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353934517).

The work of Joseph von Fraunhofer, Georg von Reichenbach and Joseph von Utzschneider was a milestone in the development of optics and scientific instrument making. Their workshops in Benediktbeuern and Munich produced instruments, the quality of which made possible a precision of observation not reached before and thus a better understanding of the...

To be published in: Reports on Astronomy 2018-2021 (IAU Transactions A; Vol. xx), as part of the report of IAU Commission A2 (Rotation of the Earth).

The importance of global satellite navigation systems for everyday life and for numerous surveying tasks is well known to every user. Wherever positioning or navigation tasks are involved, GNSS devices for the use of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo or Beidou are used, which provide coordinates in a reference frame of a global geodetic reference system. What...

The main results of the German PhD thesis "The astrometric properties of the Tautenburg Schmidt telescope and its possible contributions to the realization of an inertial reference frame" are presented. This extended version contains bibliographic details about the papers in which the results were published. - Originally published in: Astronomische...

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the achievements of the civil engineer Wilhelm Brüggenthies in the history of astronomy are briefly honoured. - Published in: Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte No. 48, May 2020, p. 2-3

Published in: Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte, Band 14 (= Acta Historica Astronomiae; Vol. 66). Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 2019, p. 359-361

Published in: Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte, Band 14 (= Acta Historica Astronomiae; Vol. 66). Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 2019, p. 359-361

An undated letter by Alexander von Humboldt to Friedrich Argelander is dated 3 July 1853 on the basis of its contents and previously unpublished letters and documents. Humboldt's letter contains an invitation for Argelander and Struve to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The two astronomers' stay in Berlin and Potsdam is connected with a trip...

In a popular scientific lecture Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846) defined the study of the movements of celestial bodies as the sole task of astronomy. This has so far been interpreted as a rejection of other astronomical fields, especially astrophysics. It is shown here that Bessel's definition had a long tradition and was based on similar view...

Report about the structure, activities and publications of the IERS and its components from mid-2015 to mid-2019. Edited by Wolfgang R. Dick

The colonel, later general Hans Philip Fuchs von Bimbach (ca. 1567–1626) was for some years the most influential official at the court of the Protestant Margrave Joachim Ernst of Brandenburg-Ansbach and was engaged as a diplomat beyond the state’s borders. However, later he fell out with the Margrave and entered into imperial (i.e., Catholic) servi...

Publications of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), such as Proceedings of IAU Symposia and Colloquia, contain biographical notes and papers as well as obituaries. Of great value are also the death announcements in the IAU Information Bulletins that contain the only biographical data known for about 200 astronomers. The kind of data given i...

This text gives additions, especially a list of references, to the paper "Stätten der Astronomiegeschichte in Stuttgart, Tübingen und Umgebung [History of astronomy sites in Stuttgart, Tübingen and surroundings].

Review of the book "In memoriam Hilmar Duerbeck", Leipzig: AVA - Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 2018, ISBN 978-3-944913-56-8

Report of the IERS to IAU Commission A2 for the years 2015 to 2018

The high-school teacher Theodor Grigull (1883-1947) from Werden near Essen in Germany was also a keen amateur astronomer, who undertook a private solar eclipse expedition, and also derived the orbit of hypothetical Planet X beyond the orbit of Neptune.

The Argelander Institute for Astronomy and the University Library at Bonn hold a large stock of archival material from the history of the Bonn Observatory, particularly by Friedrich Argelander (1799–1879), Julius Schmidt (1825–1884), Eduard Schönfeld (1828–1891) and Friedrich Küstner (1856–1936). Most of the documents are observing logs and manuscr...

This essay contains personal recollections of astronomer Hilmar Duerbeck (1948-2012).

This bibliography lists 184 publications on history of astronomy by the astronomer Hilmar W. Duerbeck: 6 books (among these 3 translations); 9 edited books; 51 scientific papers, 20 popular papers, 17 bibliographies, reports, and obituaries, 16 notes, abstracts, letters to the editor, prefaces, and editorials, 65 reviews of 48 books. Indices of co-...

This paper summarizes Hilmar Duerbeck’s activities in the field of history of astronomy: Lectures and talks, publications, exhibitions, co-editorship of journals and a series of books, organizational work in commissions, and teaching.

This compilation contains texts by Waltraut Seitter and Albert Bruch that deal with the history of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Münster, Germany. These texts also give insights into Waltraut Seitter's work as director and professor, and into that of her husband and colleague Hilmar Duerbeck.

The history of the Hoher List Observatory near Daun in the Eifel region (i.e. the field station of the Astronomical Observatory - later the Argelander Institute of Astronomy - of the University of Bonn) is described from the 1950s until 2012.

This bibliography attempts to give a complete list of biographical publications about Waltraut C. Seitter and Hilmar W. Duerbeck.

The main biographical data of the astronomer Hilmar W. Duerbeck (1948-2012) are given, together with some data about his wife and scientific partner Waltraut Seitter (1930-2007).

Huberta von Bronsart belonged to the first women in Germany, who visited an astronomical university course, although her main field of study was biology. In 1919 she got her PhD from Heidelberg University with a thesis about a special kind of sac fungi. After that she earned her living with different occupations as biologist, in horticulture and as...

As an addition to the edition of the correspondence of Joseph von Fraunhofer, a list of further letter from and to Fraunhofer from are given, which are not contained in the edition. In total, 32 letters by Fraunhofer in addition to the 292 edited and 20 addition letters to Fraunhofer in addition to the 39 edited could be found. At the same time the...

The work of Joseph von Fraunhofer, Georg von Reichenbach and Joseph von Utzschneider was a milestone in the development of optics and scientific instrument making. Their workshops in Benediktbeuern and Munich produced instruments, the quality of which made possible a precision of observation not reached before and thus a better understanding of the...

This inventory lists for 29,500 astronomers and other persons with relation to astronomy their dates of life and biographical sources (books, papers, encyclopedic entries, obituaries, etc.). Besides professional and amateur astronomers, the index contains numerous mathematicians, physicists, geodesists, geologists, geophysicists, meteorologists, gl...

In her reminiscences, Marie Hansen-Taylor (1829-1925) gave an extended description of the Seeberg Observatory, where she lived during the first years of her life. This description is reprinted here with comments. - Marie Hansen-Taylor (1829-1925) gab in ihren Erinnerungen eine ausführliche Beschreibung der Seeberg-Sternwarte, wo sie die ersten Jahr...

Among the necrologies on Franz Xaver von Zach (1754–1832) two are of special interest due to their length and importance: an anonymous one of November 1832 and additions to necrologies, written by Georg Karl Rumy. These texts are reproduced and commented, and attempts are made to narrow the circle of potential authors of the first one. In addition,...

Peter Brosche provided a large number of scientific contributions to various fields of astronomy. Since the end of his university education he worked also as an historian of astronomy and of related sciences. One of the focus points of his studies was the biography of Franz Xaver von Zach. - Peter Brosche hat als Astronom zahlreiche wissenschaftli...

The colonel, later general Hans Philip Fuchs von Bimbach (ca. 1567–1626) was for some years the most influential official at the court of the protestant margrave Joachim Ernst of Brandenburg-Ansbach and was engaged as a diplomat in the German empire. However, later he had fallen out with the latter and had betaken himself into imperial (i.e. cathol...

Huberta von Bronsart war vermutlich die erste Frau, die in Deutschland Astronomie studierte, allerdings nur für kurze Zeit, bevor sie zur Biologie wechselte. 1919 promovierte sie in Heidelberg über eine Gattung von Schlauchpilzen. Danach verdiente sie ihren Lebensunterhalt in verschiedensten Tätigkeiten als Biologin, im Gartenbau und als Buchhändle...

During recent years, and especially in 2015, the interest of the public in the leap second has increased considerably. This is mainly due to the discussions about the redefinition of UTC and the claims that the leap second may threaten computer systems. The IERS Central Bureau got a large number of requests from journalists about the leap second, i...

The following topics were the mains ones to be addressed at the Unified Analysis Workshop. Papers were invited that would address these areas and follow-up after the workshop should lead to resolution or a better understanding of the issues. There is no specific order to the issues listed below but some are more critical to be addressed than others...