Heinrich Siedentopf
Heinrich Friedrich Siedentopf was a German astronomer and physicist.
Life &; work
He was born in Hanover. In 1930, he became an assistant to Heinrich Vogt, then joined the national observatory in Heidelberg. Between 1940-46 he was a professor of astronomy at the University of Jena, and director of the observatory. In 1949, he was a professor at the University of Tübingen, where he later died of a heart attack.Professor Siedentopf published a total of 146 papers and a textbook. He studied cosmology, stellar convection,
photometry and the zodiacal light. In 1934, he developed an adjustable iris for the Stetson-Schilt photometer, allowing the observer to adjust the light level directed at the astronomical plate.
Until his early death in 1963, Siedentopf played a key role in the foundation of the European Southern Observatory in Chile.
Siedentopf crater on the Moon and
the main belt asteroid 5375 Siedentopf were named after him.