This required an extremely precise determination of the position of these celestial bodies. During observations, mostly with the two-meter telescope in Tautenburg near Jena, Lutz Schmadel and colleagues discovered almost 250 asteroids.
He named these objects in many different ways. Among other things, he honored the resistance against the Nazi regime with the asteroids Rote Kapelle, Kreisau and Stauffenberg.
The Wolflojewski and Werth objects make it clear that Lutz Schmadel valued journalism and ZDF in particular. The latter after the science reporter Hildegard Werth.
He named an asteroid discovered in 1992 after the Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher – but not Schumacher, because this name was already reminiscent of an astronomer from Altona. The racing driver makes his laps through the solar system as the asteroid “Schumi”.
Lutz Schmadel’s “Lexicon of Minor Planet Names” enjoys a worldwide reputation. More than 19,000 are explained in the three thick blue volumes. Lutz Schmadel died in 2016 at the age of 74. His legendary encyclopedia also lists himself: The asteroid with the number two two three four – discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster in Chile – is named Schmadel in his honor.