- Walter Wislicenus
Walter Friedrich Wislicenus (
November 5 ,1859 –October 3 ,1905 ) was a Germanastronomer . He taught at theUniversity of Strasbourg starting in 1888, and was aprofessor from 1897 until his death. He was known for his lectures given outside of academia that attracted many non-scientists, and for his publications for the interested public.He was born in
Halberstadt as the son of a preacher, and the nephew ofGustav Adolf Wislicenus , founder of the "free religious movement" in Germany.After only one year of studies in
Leipzig he decided to move toStrasbourg in 1880, where a newobservatory was close to completion. In 1882 a joined the expedition to observe theTransit of Venus atBahia Blanca as an assistant. In 1883 he started to work for theStrasbourg Observatory . He was the main observer for the catalogue of southernstar s, created from 1884 to 1888. He received his Ph.D in 1886 publishing works on therotational period of Mars. A crater on Mars and theasteroid 4588 Wislicenus are named in his honor.External links
* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/AN.../0169//0000162.000.html Obituary (in German) AN169(1905), 162]
* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/ApJ../0022//0000345.000.html Obituary ApJ22(1905), 345]
* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/Obs../0028//0000429.000.html Obituary Obs28(1905), 429]
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