Rudolph Minkowski

Who was Rudolph Minkowski?

Rudolph Minkowski was a German-American astronomer.

Minkowski was the son of Marie Johanna Siegel and physiologist Oskar Minkowski. His uncle was Hermann Minkowski. Rudolph studied supernovae and, together with Walter Baade, divided them into two classes based on their spectral characteristics. He and Baade also found optical counterparts to various radio sources.

He headed the National Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, a photographic atlas of the entire northern sky up to magnitude 22.

He co-discovered the Apollo asteroid 1620 Geographos, and also discovered Planetary Nebula M2-9.

He won the Bruce Medal in 1961. The crater Minkowski on the Moon is named after him and his uncle.