astronomy

Viktor Knorre

Viktor Knorre is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Viktor Knorre rather than just read about it. In short: Viktor Karlovich Knorre (Russian: Виктор Карлович Кнорре; 4 October 1840 – 25 August 1919) was a Russian astronomer of German origin. He worked in Nikolaev, Pulkovo and Berlin and is best known for having discovered 158 Koronis and three other minor planets.

Key takeaways

Viktor Knorre belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Viktor Knorre to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Viktor Knorre from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Viktor Karlovich Knorre (Russian: Виктор Карлович Кнорре; 4 October 1840 – 25 August 1919) was a Russian astronomer of German origin. He worked in Nikolaev, Pulkovo and Berlin and is best known for having discovered 158 Koronis and three other minor planets. Knorre's father, Karl Friedrich Knorre, and grandfather, Ernst Friedrich Knorre, were also prominent astronomers. Recently, the main-belt asteroid 14339 Knorre was named in honor of the three generations of Knorre astronomers.

Biography and family background Knorre was born into a three-generation astronomer family. His grandfather, Ernst Friedrich Knorre (1759–1810), had moved from Germany to Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) where he worked (1803–10) as Observator for the Dorpat observatory (opened in 1802) and professor of mathematics at the University of Dorpat. Victor Knorre's father, Karl Friedrich Knorre (1801–1883), set up and was director of the Nikolayev Astronomical Observatory starting in 1827. Viktor was born the fifth of fifteen children in Nikolayev (now Mykolaiv, Ukraine). He moved to Berlin in 1862 to study astronomy with Wilhelm Julius Foerster. He worked at Pulkovo Observatory in 1867 as an astronomical calculator and then at Berlin Observatory, where his father moved circa 1871.

Astronomer From 1873, he was observer at the Berlin Observatory. Knorre discovered four asteroids. He did not teach students at the University of Berlin; instead he gave introductions into the use of the telescopes of the Observatory. In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy. Knorre took an interest in the improvement of astronomical equipment, and published papers on an improved equatorial telescope mount, referred to as the "Knorre & Heele" mount.

Chess master Knorre was also known as a strong chess player, playing among others against Adolf Anderssen, Gustav Neumann and Johannes Zukertort. He took part in several chess tournaments during the 1860s. According to the ChessMetrics site, He was ranked among top 50 players in the world at his peak. In the Two Knights Defense, the Knorre Variation (ECO code C59) is named after him. Continuing from the main line, it is characterized by the moves 8.Be2 h6 9.Nf3 e4 10.Ne5 Bd6 11.d4 Qc7 12.Bd2. The Knorre variation of the Open defense in the Ruy Lopez, characterized by the move 6. Nc3, is also named after Knorre.

References

External links M. Ebell: Obituary on Viktor Knorre, in: Astronomische Nachrichten, 1919, volume 209, p. 367 (in German) Biographical information on Viktor Knorre Archived 2013-03-23 at the Wayback Machine Viktor Knorre player profile and games at Chessgames.com

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Viktor Knorre

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Viktor Knorre claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Viktor Knorre before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Viktor Knorre ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Viktor Knorre

In research: Viktor Knorre appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Viktor Knorre in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Viktor Knorre is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1840 births, 1919 deaths, 19th-century German astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Viktor Knorre outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Viktor Knorre in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Viktor Knorre means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Viktor Knorre out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Viktor Knorre in simple terms?

Why does Viktor Knorre matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Viktor Knorre?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Viktor Knorre.