Eduard Heis (18 February 1806,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

– 30 June 1877 in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state d ...

) was a German mathematician and

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 o ...

. He completed his education at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

in 1827, then taught mathematics at a school in Cologne. In 1832 he taught at Aachen, and remained there until 1852. He was then appointed by

King Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

to a chair position at the Academy of Münster in 1852. In 1869 he became

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the Academy. While at the academy he made a series of observations of the night sky, including the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked ey ...

zodiacal light The zodiacal light (also called false dawn when seen before sunrise) is a faint glow of diffuse sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Brighter around the Sun, it appears in a particularly dark night sky to extend from the Sun's directio ...

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

s, and shooting stars. These were published in the following works, among others: * ''Atlas Coelestis Novus'', Cologne, 1872. * ''Zodiakal-Beobachtungen''. * ''Sternschnuppen-Beobachtungen''. * ''De Magnitudine'', 1852. His star atlas, which was based on Argelander's ''Uranometria Nova'' (1843), helped define the constellation borders in the northern sky. His other publications included a treatise on the eclipses during the Peloponnesian war,

Halley's comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a List of periodic comets, short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye fr ...

, and some mathematical text books. He was also the first person to record a count of the

Perseid meteor shower The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point from which they appear to hail (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus. Etymology The name ...

in 1839, giving an hourly rate of 160. Observers have recorded the hourly count every year since that time.

Awards and honors

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful s ...

, 1870. * Awarded doctor ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

'' by Bonn University, 1852. * Foreign associate,

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

of London, 1874. * Honorary member, Leopoldine Academy, 1877. * Honorary member, Scientific Society of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, 1877. * The crater Heis on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

is named after him.

External links

*
Atlas Coelestis Eclipticus, Coloniae ad Rhenum, 1878 da www.atlascoelestis.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heis, Eduard 1806 births 1877 deaths 19th-century German astronomers German Roman Catholics 19th-century German mathematicians Scientists from Cologne People from the Rhine Province University of Bonn alumni University of Münster faculty