Scheiner's Rosa Ursina
Hermann Carl Vogel (1841-1907)
Born in Leipzig on 3 April 1841, he first studied at the Polytechnicalschool in Dresden, and then returned to Leipzig to study natural sciencesat the University, where he became assistant at the Observatory.In 1870, increasingly interested in astronomy, he became directorof the Bothkamp observatory (near Kiel), and in 1879joined the Potsdam Astrophysical Observatory (near Berlin),of which he becamedirector in 1882, a position he held until his death on 13 August 1907.In the course of his careerhe was elected to most of the largest scientific academies and societiesof Europe and America.
Vogel was a pioneer in the use of astronomicalspectroscopy and photography. Relying on the Dopplershift of spectral lines, he measured the solarrotation and showed that the solar photosphere sharedthe rotational motion inferred from sunspots observations.He also carried out some of the first spectroscopic studiesof other planets in the solar system.Making use of photographyin spectroscopic studies, he was among the firstastronomers to measure the radial velocities of bright stars,and to attempt the classification of stars on the basis of theirspectra. His spectrophotographic studies of the stars Algol and Spicalead him to the discovery of spectroscopic binaries, and allowedhim to estimate some of the orbital parameters of these binary systems.
Bibliography:
Abbott, D. (ed.) 1984, The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists:Astronomers, London: Blond Educational.Herrmann, D.B. 1973, Geschichte der Astronomie von Herschel bisHertzsprung (trans. K. Krisciunas, The History of Astronomyfrom Herschel to Hertzspring, Cambridge University Press, 1984).