February 11, 2024
Wilfried Tost
Originally published January 25, 2014
left image from Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte, right image from DLR/Tost
Every day a few thousand people from around the world visit LPOD. Each year, hundreds of these visitors submit images and comments. Even though most of us never meet and mostly don't exchange emails, LPOD is the center of a community of observers brought together by a mutual love of the Moon. Recently, one of the LPOD community has died. Cordula Bachmann writes that her friend Wilfried Tost, who was a member of DLR group, LPOD member since August 2010, and highly esteemed, honoured and respected supervisor of the Berliner Mondbeobachter (Moon Observers), passed away Jan. 12th, aged 61. He has left a gap that can never be filled. His last email to me was about LPOD. On Nov. 14th he wrote me that you [CAW] already answered my comment about Miyamory Valley of Nov. 12th. The next day he was too ill to write. I printed and read every LPOD to him in hospital until about Christmas. I am touched that both Wilfried and Cordula found LPOD worth talking about at a critical time of life. Wilfried contributed an LPOD, published more than 40 articles about the Moon, digitized and ultimately placed online the Berliner Mond-Atlas, and as a member of the Institute of Planetary Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) prepared many weekly highlights of astronomy such as the one shown here. Wilfried already had an asteroid named for him (13,334 Tost), but the greatest compliment comes from his friends, as Cordula writes: Our group, the Berliner Mondbeobachter at the Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte, will never ever be the same without him. We miss his guidance and profound knowledge, but most of all his encouragement, his friendship and his kindness.
Chuck Wood
Related Links
Wilfried's publications
Obituary
Yesterday's LPOD: Nicely Centered Impact
Tomorrow's LPOD: Only One?
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