Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Peters (16 April 1844 – 2 December 1894) was a German astronomer. His key work was on studies of chronometers and the effect of temperature and humidity on their accuracy. Peters was born in Pulkowo where his father, the astronomer

Christian August Friedrich Peters Christian August Friedrich Peters (7 September 1806 – 8 May 1880) was a German astronomer. He was the father of astronomer Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Peters. He was born in Hamburg and died in Kiel. Peters was the son of a merchant and, although ...

worked at the

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

. The family moved to

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

in 1849 and later to

Altona Altona may refer to: Places Australia * Altona Beach, in Altona, Victoria, Australia * Altona Meadows, Victoria, Australia * Altona North, Victoria, Australia * Altona, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia ** Altona railway station ** Al ...

. He studied astronomy and mathematics at the Universities of Berlin, Kiel and Munich before obtaining a doctorate from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

with a thesis on the determination of the orbit of minor planet

87 Sylvia 87 Sylvia is one of the largest asteroids (approximately tied for 7th place, to within measurement uncertainties). It is the parent body of the Sylvia family and member of Cybele group located beyond the main asteroid belt (see minor-planet ...

. He joined the Hamburg observatory in 1867, worked at Altona in 1868 and Kiel in 1873 before becoming director at the Königsberg Observatory in 1888 while also serving as a professor of astronomy at the University. He calculated the orbit of the double star

61 Cygni 61 Cygni is a binary star system in the constellation Cygnus (constellation), Cygnus, consisting of a pair of K-type main-sequence star, K-type dwarf stars that orbit each other in a period of about 659 years. Of apparent magnitu ...

and for sometime was involved in geodetical determinations of longitude and examined the difference in longitude between Altona and Kiel. He also worked on the accuracy of

chronometers A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, and the yea ...

and examined the effects of temperature and humidity on them. Between 1883 and 1888 he was in-charge of the naval chronometer observatory at Kiel. He edited revisions of Savich's ''Practical Astronomy'' and Müller-Pouillet's ''Cosmical Physics''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm 1844 births 1894 deaths German astronomers