What is Koppernigk?
Koppernigk is the daily personal astronomy weblog of Jeroen van Dorp.

Who was Koppernigk?
Niclas Koppernigk was a Polish astronomer commonly known as Copernicus. He wrote De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), the first treatise with a comprehensive heliocentric description of the Solar system. Niclas was born in 1473 and died in 1543. Here is the Wikipedia page on Niclas Koppernigk.

Why Koppernigk, not Copernicus?
This blog title is in honor of a man of science. That’s why I use his real name, not the name everyone started using when he was both famous and dead.

Who is Jeroen?

Jeroen van Dorp (51) lives in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

During the day I work as the CEO of the Aluminium Centrum, taking care of the needs of the aluminium industry in the Netherlands.

Due to Internet my life slowly but surely becomes an open book. Thanks to free software, cheap domains and hosting and the vast open source community I pop up in many places on the Internet with blogs, social media sites and whatever. Like Koppernigk, I’m single and have no children.

You can read more on my personal landing page.

They say you have more blogs than arms and legs?
True. It’s not only Koppernigk I maintain, but also a Tumblr blog, the Dutch blogs De Grote Kijkdoos and de wereld bekeken as well as a photo blog, Another Digital Eye. Apart from Koppernigk, none of these blogs is maintained on a daily basis. I also have an online photo album, a wiki, and a genealogy page.

Why are you interested in astronomy?
I became more than just interested in astronomy when I was about 8 years old. In that year I read a book with a picture and a story about the mystery of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. At that time it was unknown what it exactly was. We had to wait until the first Pioneer pictures solved the problem for good. I like solving problems, and astronomy has a lot of problems for you to solve. The Great Red Spot spurred my imagination and lead me to astronomy as a life long hobby.
I spent two years on the University of Utrecht as an astronomy undergraduate. After that I decided to head in another direction and leave astronomy as a profession behind, only to keep it as a hobby. I majored in medieval history and got my degree in that specialty as well.

Is your blog a reliable source of information?
Caveat Emptor. As with most blogs, this weblog contains quotes, snippets, press releases from a variety of sources, free information from around the web and sometimes my personal opinion – and mine only. The content consists of personal choices. I’m not an independent journalist, nor a scientist.

Hey, I miss a picture. A link does not work. I get a 404. And if I may, that date is wrong.
Older entries on this weblog are archived, but not maintained. Often weblinks go dead, as in many weblogs. So you might end up with a lot of deadlinks. Sorry for that inconvenience, but such is the harsh world of news: available today, forgotten tomorrow.
Not all dates prior to August 18, 2010 might be correct due to a quirk in the conversion between the blog software I used before that date and the WordPress software I use now.

Do you only write about astronomy?
No, I observe as well. I own a no-thrills-no-frills Celestron C8 on a German equatorial mount, a small 76mm Newtonian for educational purposes, a small spotting scope and 10-30x60mm Binoculars. I take astro pictures with a Nikon D90 camera.

Can you keep me updated on your blog postings?
Koppernigk has an RSS-feed. You can find the link in the sidebar on each regular page. Here’s the link if you can’t find it: RSS-feed for Koppernigk.
If you want, you can follow me on Twitter.

What if I register to comment? I have to leave my e-mail address!
I’m a regular Internet user, just like you. We have something in common. Can you combine the word ‘spam’ with ‘intense feelings of hatred’ as well? Good, then you know what I do with your e-mail address and your private information. It won’t show up. It won’t be harvested. It will go nowhere. Ever. Never. Whenever. Whatever. Capice?

That’s my story/picture/idea!
All material on this site has been gathered from openly available sources based on fair use policy.
As far as text is concerned it is properly indicated what source has been used.
Illustrations without reference to a source have been used if no clear copyright statement was made about its use.
If you feel copyright has been violated I urge you to contact me.
In that case the material will be removed from the site.

And where can I reach you?
Contact me

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