Paul Wild (Swiss astronomer)


Paul Wild was a Swiss astronomer and director of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern, who discovered numerous comets, asteroids and supernovae.

Biography

Wild was born on 5 October 1925 in the village of Wädenswil near Zürich, Switzerland. From 1944 through 1950, he studied mathematics and physics at the ETH Zurich. Thereafter, he worked at the California Institute of Technology where he researched galaxies and supernovas under the leadership of countryman Fritz Zwicky from 1951 through 1955.
At the Zimmerwald Observatory, near Bern, Wild made his first cometary discovery C/1957 U1 on 2 October 1957. The parabolic comet was later named "Latyshev-Wild–Burnham".
Professor Wild became director of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern in 1980, and remained in this position until 1991. He died on 2 July 2014 at the age of 88 in Bern.

Discoveries

During countless nights Wild observed the skies at the Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern and discovered numerous asteroids, comets and supernovae including:
The best known discovery of a comet occurred on January 6, 1978. This Jupiter-family comet was designated 1978 XI, P/WILD 2 or 81P/Wild. WILD 2 was chosen by NASA for its Stardust mission launched in 1999. The stardust spacecraft flew through the comet’s trail and collected samples of the tail’s dust. After the return of the spacecraft to earth, analysis of the dust particles by different researcher provided new insights about the evolution of the solar system. Organic compounds such as glycine, a fundamental chemical building block of life, were found on a comet for the first time. In addition, evidence of the presence of liquid water was detected.

List of discovered asteroids

He is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 94 numbered minor planets during 1961–1994, one of which was a co-discovery with Czech-born Swiss astronomer Ivo Baueršíma.
1657 Roemera6 March 1961
1687 Glarona19 September 1965
1748 Mauderli7 September 1966
1768 Appenzella23 September 1965
1773 Rumpelstilz17 April 1968
1775 Zimmerwald13 May 1969
1803 Zwicky6 February 1967
1830 Pogson17 April 1968
1831 Nicholson17 April 1968
1838 Ursa20 October 1971
1839 Ragazza20 October 1971
1844 Susilva30 October 1972
1845 Helewalda30 October 1972
1860 Barbarossa28 September 1973
1866 Sisyphus5 December 1972
1891 Gondola11 September 1969
1892 Lucienne16 September 1971
1893 Jakoba20 October 1971
1906 Naef5 September 1972
1911 Schubart25 October 1973

2138 Swissair17 April 1968
2151 Hadwiger3 November 1977
2152 Hannibal19 November 1978
2175 Andrea Doria12 October 1977
2218 Wotho10 January 1975
2229 Mezzarco7 September 1977
2239 Paracelsus13 September 1978
2262 Mitidika10 September 1978
2303 Retsina24 March 1979
2320 Blarney29 August 1979
2337 Boubin22 October 1976
2353 Alva27 October 1975
2368 Beltrovata4 September 1977
2429 Schürer12 October 1977
2481 Bürgi18 October 1977
2517 Orma28 September 1968
2521 Heidi28 February 1979
2565 Grögler12 October 1977
2731 Cucula21 May 1982
2843 Yeti7 December 1975