Giovanni Battista Hodierna, also spelled as Odierna (April 13, 1597 – April 6, 1660)
was an Italian
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
at the court of
Giulio Tomasi, Duke of
Palma (Palma di Montechiaro). He compiled a
catalogue of comets and other celestial objects containing some 40 entries, including at least 19 real and verifiable
nebulous objects that might be confused with comets.
Biography
Hodierna was born in
Ragusa, Sicily and died in
Palma di Montechiaro
Palma di Montechiaro ( scn, Parma di Muntichiaru) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, southern Italy. Many Greek archaeological findings have been found near the town.
Formerly known as Palma, in 1863, Montechiaro ...
. While serving as a Roman Catholic priest in Ragusa, he also practised astronomy.
In 1654 he published a book entitled ''
De systemate orbis cometici, deque admirandis coeli characteribus'' that contained a catalogue of celestial objects. The work anticipated
Messier's catalogue, but had little impact.
Messier seems not to have known of it.
Hodierna was prolific in publication, and his interests spanned many disciplines. In addition to his astronomical observations, he utilized optic microscopes to study insects, publishing on the multifaceted eye of flies and that in bee colonies only the queen is oviparous.
Works
Archimede redivivo colla stadera del momento, dove non solamente si insegna il modo di scoprire le frodi nella falsificazione dell'oro e dell'argento; mas si notifica l'uso delli pesi e delle misure civili presso diverse nazioni del mondo e di questo regno di Sicilia Decio Cirillo publisher, Palermo, 1644.
Protei cælestis vertigines seu Saturni systema Nicolo Bua, publisher, Panormita (1657).
La stella nuova e peregrina comparsa l'anno 1600 sul petto del cigno, scoverta nuovamente[The new and strange star appeared in the year 1600 on the chest of the Cygnus (constellation), discovered again, This refers to the star ]P Cygni
P Cygni (34 Cygni) is a variable star in the constellation Cygnus. The designation "P" was originally assigned by Johann Bayer in ''Uranometria'' as a nova. Located about 5,300 light-years (1,560 parsecs) from Earth, it is a hypergian ...
. Ignazio di Lazzari, Rome (1659).
De systemate orbis cometici; deque admirandis coeli characteribus Nicolo Bua, publisher, Panormita (1654).
See also
*
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
*
Biography @ SEDS* Hodierna's (1644
''Opuscoli del dottor Don Gio. Battista Hodierna''- digital facsimile from the
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...
1597 births
1660 deaths
People from Ragusa, Sicily
17th-century Italian astronomers
Catholic clergy scientists
Scientists from Sicily
{{Sicily-stub