The man with the Asteroid Encyclopedia – Lutz Schmadel, Kleinplanetn and Schumi

This required a very precise determination of the location of these celestial bodies. During observations, mostly using the two-meter telescope at Tautenburg near Jena, Lutz Schmadel and his colleagues discovered nearly 250 asteroids.

He named these things in many different ways. Among other things, he honored the resistance against the Nazi regime with the asteroids Rote Kapelle, Kreisau, and Stauffenberg.

Objects Wolflojewski and Werth show that Lutz Schmadel valued journalism and ZDF in particular. The latter is after the scientific reporter Hildegard Wirth.
An asteroid discovered in 1992 was named after Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher – but not Schumacher, because that name was already reminiscent of an astronomer from Altona. The race driver laps the solar system like the asteroid Shumi.

Lutz Schmdel’s “Dictionary of Minor Planet Names” has a worldwide reputation. Over 19,000 are annotated in the three thick blue volumes. Lutz Schmadel passed away in 2016 at the age of 74. His legendary encyclopedia also lists himself: the asteroid number two two three four – discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster in Chile – was named Schmädel in his honor.