Rudolf Ferdinand Spitaler

Rudolf Ferdinand Spitaler (7 January 1849 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian astronomer, geophysicist, meteorologist and climatologist.^[1][2][3][4]

Rudolf Ferdinand Spitaler
Portrait of Rudolf Ferdinand Spitaler
Born	7 January 1849
Died	16 October 1946
Nationality	Austrian
Occupation(s)	Astronomer, geophysicist, meteorologist, and climatologist

He discovered 64 IC objects whilst working at Vienna Observatory and Comet 113P/Spitaler.^[5]

He was one of the first to speculate the existence of a 13th zodiacal constellation, which later became known as Ophiuchus.^{[citation needed]}

Selected works

• Zeichnungen und Photographien am Grubb’schen Refractor von 68cm (27 engl. Zoll) Öffnung in den Jahren 1885 bis 1890 (1891)
• Bahnbestimmung des Kometen 1851 III (Brorsen) (1894)
• Periodische Verschiebungen des Schwerpunktes der Erde (1905)
• Die Achsenschwankungen der Erde als Ursache der Auslösung von Erdbeben (1913)
• Das Klima des Eiszeitalters (1921)