Philipp Johann Heinrich Fauth

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Philipp Johann Heinrich Fauth.

Philipp Johann Heinrich Fauth (March 19, 1867 — January 4, 1941) was a German selenographer. Born in Bad Dürkheim, he worked as a schoolteacher. As an amateur astronomer, he studied the formations on the Moon with great intensity and meticulousness. He compiled an extensive atlas of the moon between 1884 and 1940 (which was not completely published until 1964, and prized today as a rare book). His Unser Mond was published in Bremen in 1936.

Working from an observatory in Landstuhl, Fauth represented the moon in twenty-four sectors. Unfortunately, Fauth carried out this immense work at the same time that advances were being made in photography that allowed for a more reliable depiction of the lunar surface.

In 1939, Heinrich Himmler gave him the title of professor, although Fauth had never taught at a university and never received a doctorate.

He died at Grünwald, Bavaria.

Fauth crater on the Moon was named after him.