Vogel [Foghel] Robert Pilipovich General data:
01.03.1859 - 27.02.1920
Place of birth: Rzhyshchiv city, Rzhyshchiv parish, Kyiv district, Kiev province, Russian empire (now the Kiev region, Ukraine)
Studied in: St. Vladimir Imperial Kyiv University (since 1999, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University) (1881-1886);
Key interests: celestial mechanics, theoretical astronomy, physics of comets, physics of planets, photometry. ScD Thesis: Definition orbit elements through observation diaeresis (1891 ); ScD Thesis: Determination of the orbits, which are little inclined to the ecliptic (1895 St. Vladimir Imperial Kiev University);
Biography:
He was born on February 17 according to the Julian calendar or March 1 according to the Gregorian calendar, 1859 in the Rzhishchev town of Rzhishchev Volost of Kyiv County of Kyiv Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Kyiv Region of Ukraine) in the family of a German emigrant who worked as an accountant at a sugar factory.
Against his father's wishes, Robert entered the Kyiv-Podilskyi Pro-Gymnasium, and then the Third Kyiv Gymnasium, which he graduated with a gold medal in 1880. Without family support, he was forced to work as a tutor.
In 1886, he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Vladimir Imperial Kyiv University, where he entered in 1881. Robert studied for free, received a scholarship, and from the third year he was awarded a special "professor's" scholarship for academic success.
In 1888, he was seconded to the Pulkovo Observatory for photometric and spectroscopic observations.
In 1891, he defended his doctoral (master's) thesis "Determining the elements of orbits based on three observations." In the same year, his work was awarded a gold medal as a significant contribution to the development of science.
In 1892, he was sent on a business trip abroad, where he got acquainted with the work of the largest European astronomical observatories, studied astrophysics, engaged in astrophotography in Paris City, and at the Roman Collegium under the leadership of Professor Pietro Tacchini, and also at the Nice Observatory he studied spectroscopy.
Returning from abroad in 1893, he taught at the St. Vladimir Imperial Kyiv University as a private docent, in 1894 he was appointed an observing astronomer of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory.
In 1895, he defended his doctoral thesis at the St. Vladimir Imperial Kyiv University on the topic: "Determination of orbits slightly inclined to the ecliptic", receiving the degree of Doctor of Astronomy and Geodesy. For this work in March 1897, he was awarded the Imperial Prize by the Russian Astronomical Society.
In 1897, he was appointed extraordinary professor of the Department of Astronomy and Geodesy of the St. Vladimir Imperial Kyiv University.
It is known that in the 1898/99 academic year he taught courses on spherical astronomy and celestial mechanics and also conducted practical classes on spherical astronomy.
since 1899, he worked as a full professor at the St. Vladimir Imperial Kyiv University (now the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University), and Since 1901 he was the director of the Kyiv Astronomical Observatory and the head of the Department of Astronomy.
Since 1914, he was the dean of the physical and mathematical department of Kyiv Higher Women's Courses.
During the First World War, the astronomical observatory of the university did not work for almost a year. In the autumn of 1915, a decision was made to evacuate higher educational institutions in the Saratov city. The main equipment of the observatory, part of the library, as well as the staff astronomers of that time, including R.P. Fogel. In 1916, the observatory's equipment and personnel were returned to Kyiv City.
He died on February 27, 1920.
The main works concern celestial astronomy, in particular the determination of the orbits of planets and comets. He paid great attention to theoretical astronomy. He developed and supplemented the classical methods of determining the orbits of planets and comets, proposed by K. Haus and G. Olbers. He compiled textbooks on descriptive, spherical, and theoretical astronomy.
Main publications:
1. Фогель Р. П. Спосіб передобчислювання сонячних затемнень//Вісник Київського університету, 1884
2. Фогель Р. П. Теорема Ламберта//Вісник Київського університету, 1889
3. Фогель Р. П. Будова і діяльність сонця//Вісник Київського університету, 1893
4. Фогель Р. П. Застосування фотографії до вирішення астрономічних питань, Київ, 1894
Sources:
1 Колчинский И. Г., Корсунь А. А., Родригес М. Г. Астрономы: Биографический справочник. — Киев: Наук. думка, 1986.—510 с.-С.331
2 Богородский А. Ф., Чернега Н. А. Роберт Филиппович Фогель (1859—1920) // Историко-астрономические исследования.—1966.—Вып. 9.—С. 211—234.
3 Казанцева Л. В., Кислюк В. С. Київське вікно у Всесвіт: Історія Київської астрономічної обсерваторії в контексті історії розвитку національної та світової науки. — Київ: Наш час, 2006.—C.113-118, 150
4 Осипов О. К., Хміль С. В. Олександр Федорович Богородський // Астрономічна обсерваторія Київського національного університету імені Тараса Шевченка. 160 років / відп. ред. В. М. Єфіменко. – Київ, 2005. – 260 с.- C.102-107
