EAN: 9783030554255

SPRINGER BIOGRAPHIES PIONEER OF GALACTIC ASTR...

This non-technical biography of Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (1851-1922) presents to the general
reader the scientific life of the astronomer who pioneered the studies of the structure of the
Milky Way Galaxy. In telling Kapteyn's story the author weaves in astronomy basics and uses
modern astronomical images to show the developments of astronomical research from Kapteyn's
times to the present. In particular the study of the distribution of stars in space has now
culminated with spectacular new insights coming from the astrometric satellite GAIA  which is
receiving much public attention today. The biography shows how Kapteyn's ideas influenced
prominent astronomers worldwide. He is prominent as designer of the Kapteyn Universe  the
alternative to the large system found by Harlow Shapley. He is the discoverer of Kapteyn's Star
still the second fastest moving star in the sky  which is now one of the nearest stars with a
planet in the habitable zone. This fascinating hybridof astronomy history and popular astronomy
tells the story of the astronomy professor without an observatory who founded the first
astronomical laboratory specializing in measuring photographic plates exposed elsewhere.
Kapteyn took astronomy out of cataloguing stars to measuring distances and velocities in order
to study their spatial distribution  systematic motions (Kapteyn's Star Streams) and the
equilibrium between their gravity and motions. His legacy includes  in addition to the first
application of Galactic structure and dynamics  Jan Hendrik Oort  the famous astronomer from
Leiden  who as a student was so impressed by Kapteyn's lectures that he decided to become an
astronomer.

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