Named in honor of Robert Clausen (1951– ) and his team at the public observatory in Laupheim, a town in southern Germany. In 1975 Clausen founded an association of amateur astronomers Volkssternwarte Laupheim e.V. and became its president. By organizing traveling astronomical exhibitions and numerous international astrofests, he expanded Laupheim’s reputation far beyond Germany. Since 1990 Clausen, assisted by his coworkers, has excelled in running, with great professionalism, a Zeiss planetarium and observatory that were mostly built through the members’ own initiative. (M 34625) _ _.