All About Space - UK (2020-02)

Likehisfather,theastronomer

wasa pioneerinstellarphysics

almost 200 yearsago

Notquiteahouseholdnameamongastronomers,

OttoWilhelmvonStruvemadeimportant

contributionstothefieldofastronomyinthe

late-19thcentury.Itiswidelyconsideredthathe

pioneeredthestudyofdoublestars,andhewas

aninf luentialfigureatthePulkovoObservatory,

aprincipalastronomicalobservatoryofthe

RussianAcademyofScienceslocatedinSaint

Petersburg,Russia.

VonStruvewasbornon 7 May 1819 inDorpat,

nowknownasTartu,inmodern-dayEstonia.

However,helaterbecameaRussiancitizen,

havingbeendeemeda‘foreigner’forthefirst

24 yearsofhislife.Itwasclearthathewasan

intelligentpersoninhisearlyyears,whichsaw

himgraduatefromtheAcademyofDorpatat

theageofjust15.Theonlythingthatstopped

himfromattendinguniversitywasthathewasa

yearyoungerthantheprescribedage.However,

hebeganattendinglecturesasalisteneratthe

ImperialUniversityofDorpat,finallycompleting

hiscourseattheageof20.Meanwhile,hewas

helpinghisfatherattheDorpatObservatory.

AftervonStruvegraduatedin1839,hewent

totherecentlyopenedPulkovoObservatoryand

wasgiventheroleofassistantdirector– withthe

directorbeinghisfather.AtthistimePulkovo

f launtedthebestopticalinstrumentintheworld:

a38-centimetre(15-inch)refractortelescope.With

thisadvancedpieceofkithebeganscrutinising

therealmofstellarastronomy,creatingapiece

ofworktitledTheDeterminationoftheConstant

ofPrecessionwithregardtotheProperMotionof

theSolarSystem.

Hereceivedhismastersinastronomyfrom

theUniversityofStPetersburgin1841,andin

1850 hereceivedtheGoldMedaloftheRoyal

AstronomicalSocietyinLondon.WithPulkovo’s

revolutionaryrefractortelescopeathisdisposal,

hewastaskedwithsearchingfornewdouble

starsandprovidedunprecedentedmeasurements

anddetailsabouttheirbehaviour.Thisisthe

workthatwouldmakehimsopopularinthe

worldofastronomy,especiallywhenhe

continuedonfromhisfather’sworkandcreated

thePulkovoCatalogueofStellarCoordinates,

filledwithofthousandsofdouble-star

“With a revolutionary

refractor telescope, he was

tasked with searching

for new double stars”

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Otto Wilhelm

von Struve

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coordinates. When his father fell ill in 1858, von

Struve took over management responsibilities,

eventually becoming director in 1862. He

maintained a firm grasp on that role until his

retirement in 1889.

Pioneering work with double stars wasn’t

his only area of expertise; he also went on

expeditions to view solar eclipses in the mid-

19th century, also observing the transits of

Venus, nebulae and even publishing work on

Uranus’ moons, Ariel and Umbriel. Between

the years of 1852 and 1889 he was a prominent

member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as

well as a member of many European scientific

societies, which all benefited from his infectious

intelligence. Sadly he fell ill while on his travels

through Germany in 1895, passing away on 16

April 1905 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Von St r uve

was director

of Pulkovo

Observatory

from 1862

to 1889