Asteroid (2227) Otto Struve

Named in memory of Otto Struvé (1897-1963), last of a remarkable astronomical lineage. His great-grandfather, Wilhelm Struvé, founded the Pulkovo Observatory in 1839; his grandfather (Otto), uncle (Hermann) and father (Ludwig) were also distinguished astronomers.  Following a period of great privation and misery after World War I, he was invited by Edwin B. Frost to come to the Yerkes Observatory in 1921.  He started working in spectroscopy and remained a spectroscopist to the end of his days.  He succeeded Frost as Yerkes director in 1932 and was the major force responsible for the establishment of the McDonald Observatory in 1933.  Managing editor of the Astrophysical Journal from 1932 to 1947, he raised it to the preeminent position it now occupies.  He became head of the astronomy department at the University of California in Berkeley in 1950, and he served as director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory from 1960 to 1962.

He served as president of the IAU during 1952-1955.  (768) Struveana is named for three of his ancestors; following in their footsteps, Otto Struvé received the Royal Astronomical Society’s gold medal in 1944.  Name proposed by F. K. Edmondson. Prof. Struvé was named an Honorary Member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada on 1959-01-15.
 
Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid 
 
Reference: MPC 8912
Author: 
ebriggs733@gmail.com
Name: 
Otto Struve
Number: 
2227
Designation: 
1955 RX
Disc. Date: 
1955-09-13
Disc. Place: 
Goethe Link Observatory