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Johann Encke
Johann Franz Encke (; 23 September 179126 August 1865) was a German astronomer. Among his activities, he worked on the calculation of the periods of comets and asteroids, measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and made observations of the planet Saturn. Biography Encke was born in Hamburg, where his father was the Pastor at St. James' Church, Hamburg. He was the youngest of eight children, and at the time his father died, when he was four years old, the family was in straitened circumstances. Thanks to the financial assistance of a teacher, he was able to be educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums. He studied mathematics and astronomy from 1811 at the University of Göttingen under Carl Friedrich Gauss, but he enlisted in the Hanseatic Legion for the campaign of 1813–1814, serving as a sergeant in the artillery of the Prussian army, in Holstein and Mecklenburg. In 1814 he resumed his studies at the University, but after Napoleon's escape from Elba he retu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Ludwig Hencke
Karl Ludwig Hencke (8 April 1793 – 21 September 1866) was a German amateur astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. He is sometimes confused with Johann Franz Encke, another :German astronomers, German astronomer. Biography Hencke was born in Driesen, Province of Brandenburg, Brandenburg (now Drezdenko, Poland). He volunteered in the War of the Sixth Coalition, Wars of Liberation (''Befreiungskriege'') for Prussia but was wounded at Lützen. Thereafter he served as post official at various places and finally was erected post master. After his retirement at age 45 for health reasons he lived in his city of birth where he served as city court judge. He discovered two asteroids from his private observatory at #9, Kietz (now #43, Kietzerstraße), Driesen, by comparing star maps with the sky seen through his telescope. The first, 5 Astraea, was the first asteroid discovered after the long gap that followed the last of the original four, 4 Vesta, which was discovered already in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold Medal Of The Royal Astronomical Society
The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awards have been given for "outstanding personal researches in the fields of astronomy and geophysics" as well as general contributions to astronomy and geophysics "that may be made through leadership in research programmes, through education and through scientific administration". It has been awarded both for research that has taken a lifetime (it has most frequently been given to recognise an extraordinary lifetime achievement), and for specific pieces of research. History The RAS was founded in 1820 and the first Gold Medals were awarded in 1824. Silver medals were also awarded in 1824 and 1827, but that practice was quickly abandoned, instead the Royal Astronomical Society#Awards, RAS established other awards. In the early years, more tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Louis Pons
Jean-Louis Pons (24 December 176114 October 1831) was a French astronomer. Despite humble beginnings and being self-taught, he went on to become the greatest visual comet discoverer of all time: between 1801 and 1827 Pons discovered thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history. Pons worked at three observatories in his career, Marseille Observatory, where he was also trained, a short-lived observatory at Royal Park La Marlia in Tuscany, and finally at an observatory in Florence. Pons's work supported some famous comet recoveries of the 19th century, including Encke's Comet and Crommelin's Comet. However, most of the comets he discovered had near-parabolic orbits and would not return for a time as long as several millennia. Early life Pons was born in Peyre, Hautes-Alpes, to a poor family; he received little formal education. In 1789, he began working for the Marseille Observatory as a caretaker, and gradually gained some experience in assisting the astron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers (; ; 11 October 1758 – 2 March 1840) was a German astronomer. He found a convenient method of calculating the orbit of comets, and in 1802 and 1807, discovered the second and the fourth asteroids Pallas and Vesta. Life and career Olbers was born in Arbergen, Germany, today part of Bremen, and studied to be a physician at Göttingen (1777–1780). While he was at Göttingen, he studied mathematics with Abraham Gotthelf Kästner. In 1779, while attending to a sick fellow student, he devised a method of calculating cometary orbits which made an epoch in the treatment of the subject, as it was the first satisfactory method of calculating cometary orbits. After his graduation in 1780, he began practicing medicine in Bremen. At night he dedicated his time to astronomy, astronomical observation, making the upper story of his home into an observatory. In 1800, Olbers was one of 24 astronomers invited to participate in the group known as the "celest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Comet Of 1680
C/1680 V1, also called the Great Comet of 1680, Kirch's Comet, and Newton's Comet, was the first comet discovered by telescope. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch and was one of the brightest comets of the seventeenth century. Overview The comet was discovered by Gottfried Kirch, a German astronomer, on 14 November 1680 ( New Style), in Coburg, and it became one of the brightest comets of the seventeenth century – reputedly visible even in daytime – and was noted for its spectacularly long tail. Passing 0.42 au from Earth on 30 November 1680, it sped around an extremely close perihelion of 0.0062 au (930,000 km; 580,000 mi; or just 1.3 solar radii, 0.3 radii above the sun's surface) on 18 December 1680, reaching its peak brightness on 29 December as it swung outward. It was last observed on 19 March 1681. JPL Horizons shows the comet has roughly a barycentric orbital period of 10,000 years. the comet is about from the Sun. While the Kirch Comet of 1680–1681 was d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gotha (town)
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wettin, Wettins from 1640 until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918. The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha originating here spawned many European rulers, including the royal houses of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal (until 1910) and Bulgaria (until 1946). In the Middle Ages, Gotha was a rich trading town on the trade route ''Via Regia'' and between 1650 and 1850, Gotha saw a cultural heyday as a centre of sciences and arts, fostered by the dukes of Saxe-Gotha. The first duke, Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, Ernest the Pious, was famous for his wise rule. In the 18th century, the ''Almanach de Gotha'' was first published in the city. The publisher Justus Perthes (publishing company), Justus Perthes and the encyclopedist Joseph Meyer (publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gotha Observatory
Gotha Observatory (''Seeberg Observatory'', ''Sternwarte Gotha'' or ''Seeberg-Sternwarte'') was a German astronomical observatory located on Seeberg hill near Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. Initially the observatory was dedicated to astrometry, geodetic and meteorological observation and tracking the time. The minor planet 1346 Gotha was named after the city of Gotha in recognition of the observatory. History Planning for the observatory began in 1787 by the court astronomer Baron Franz Xaver von Zach, with the financing of Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. It was based upon the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford, England. The building was divided into five parts, with the central section holding a revolving dome. There were two wings to provide quarters for the staff. During Peter Andreas Hansen's term, the observatory was dismantled and moved to a less exposed location in Gotha. The observatory was closed in 1934. Instruments Around 1800, the observatory became an internatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernhardt Von Lindenau
Baron Bernhard August von Lindenau (11 June 1779 – 21 May 1854) was a German lawyer, astronomer, politician, and art collector. Lindenau was born in Altenburg, the son of Johann August Lindenau, a regional administrator (''Landschaftsdirektor)''. In 1793, Lindeau began studying law and mathematics at Leipzig, and beginning in 1801 he worked at the astronomical observatory in Seeburg. In 1830 he was the Minister of the Interior during a turbulent period in the history of Saxony. Late in the year he oversaw measures to calm violent protests demanding political reform. From 1831 to 1843 he was Minister-President. He created a collection of Italian artwork from the 14th and 15th centuries by Florentine painters in an effort to create artistic awareness. He gave his art collection to the city of Altenburg on the condition that they create a museum to display the pieces. This museum was finished in 1875, and became the Lindenau-Museum. Lindenau edited the ''Monatliche Correspond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career of Napoleon, a series of military campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815. He led the French First Republic, French Republic as French Consulate, First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then ruled the First French Empire, French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814, and briefly again in 1815. He was King of Italy, King of Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Italy from 1805 to 1814 and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine from 1806 to 1813. Born on the island of Corsica to a family of Italian origin, Napoleon moved to mainland France in 1779 and was commissioned as an officer in the French Royal Army in 1785. He supported the French Rev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanseatic Legion
The Hanseatic Legion was a military unit, first formed of a group of citizens from Hamburg. They had met in 1813 on the instigation of General Friedrich Karl von Tettenborn, in order to fight in the War of the Sixth Coalition. This association of volunteers was joined immediately by volunteers from Hamburg's Hanseatic sister cities Bremen and Lübeck. The Legion should not be confused with the '' Hamburger Bürgermilitär'' (Hamburg Citizen Militia). During their time of coexistence, the militia restricted itself to ejecting the French garrisons stationed in Hamburg and the other two Hanseatic cities, whereas the ''Legion'' also participated in the rest of the campaign under Russian overall command. History The Legion defended the Hanseatic cities against Davout's and Vandamme's troops until Tettenborn completed the raising of their sieges in the night of 29/30 May 1813. The Legion and the Hanseatischen Bürgergarden went with Count Tettenborn and in Mecklenburg joined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include planets, natural satellite, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxy, galaxies, meteoroids, asteroids, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Egyptian astronomy, Egyptians, Babylonian astronomy, Babylonians, Greek astronomy, Greeks, Indian astronomy, Indians, Chinese astronomy, Chinese, Maya civilization, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
