Lutz D. Schmadel

Lutz Schmadel
Born2 July 1942
Died21 October 2016
SpouseAnna Theresia Schmadel
Minor planets discovered: 245 [1]
see § List of discovered minor planets

Lutz Dieter Schmadel (2 July 1942, in Berlin – 21 October 2016)[2][3][4] was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of asteroids, who worked at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI) of the University of Heidelberg.[5]

His special interest was the astrometry of minor planets. Among his numerous discoveries were the three main-belt asteroids 8661 Ratzinger, 10114 Greifswald and 11508 Stolte.[6][7][8]

He was the author of the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, a reference book containing information about the discovery and naming of 12,804 asteroids (March 2006). One asteroid 2234 Schmadel, discovered in 1977, was named in his honor.[5] The asteroid 8811 Waltherschmadel was named for his father, Walther Schmadel (1902–1944), who died at the Eastern Front near Stalingrad during WWII.[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Discoverers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bio-index-German was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Pregliasco, Mauro; Pregliasco, Valeria, eds. (29 October 2016). "Good to Know". 425 DX News. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016. + SILENT KEY + Dr. Lutz D. Schmadel, DK8UH passed away on 21 October. Born in 1942, he was an astronomer whose special interest was the astrometry of minor planets.
  4. ^ Trifu, Cezar (24 October 2016). "GDXF Secretary のDK8UH Lutzさん訃報" [GDXF Secretary DK8UH Lutz's death]. IOTA-chasers mailing list (in English and Japanese). Retrieved 8 November 2016. news of Lutz's (DK8UH) passing last Friday. … a very passionate radio amateur, who fell hard in love with the IOTA Programme. As a Board member of the German DX Foundation …
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference springer-Schmadel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Ratzinger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Greifswald was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Stolte was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Waltherschmadel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).