Friederich Wilhelm Gustav Spörer (23 October 1822 – 7 July 1895) was a German

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 is noted for his studies of sunspots and

sunspot cycle The solar cycle, also known as the solar magnetic activity cycle, sunspot cycle, or Schwabe cycle, is a nearly periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the Sun's surfa ...

s. In this regard he is often mentioned together with

Edward Maunder Edward Walter Maunder (12 April 1851 – 21 March 1928) was an English astronomer. His study of sunspots and the solar magnetic cycle led to his identification of the period from 1645 to 1715 that is now known as the Maunder Minimum. Early and ...

. Spörer was the first to note a prolonged period of low sunspot activity from 1645 to 1715. This period is known as the Maunder Minimum. Spörer was a contemporary of

Richard Christopher Carrington Richard Christopher Carrington (26 May 1826 – 27 November 1875) was an English amateur astronomer whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Ea ...

, an English astronomer. Carrington is generally credited with discovering

Spörer's law Spörer's law predicts the variation of sunspot latitudes during a solar cycle. It was discovered by the English astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington around 1861. Carrington's work was refined by the German astronomer Gustav Spörer. At th ...

, which governs the variation of sunspot latitudes during the course of a

solar cycle The solar cycle, also known as the solar magnetic activity cycle, sunspot cycle, or Schwabe cycle, is a nearly periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the Sun's surfa ...

. Spörer added to Carrington's observations of sunspot drift and is sometimes credited with the discovery. The Spörer minimum was a period of low sunspot activity from roughly 1420 to 1570.

Life

From 1833 to 1840 Spörer attended Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin and afterwards studied mathematics and natural history at Berliner Universität until 1843. He gained his doctorate on 14. December 1843 with a work on a comet of 1723 – his supervisor being Johann Franz Encke. From 1844 he worked at the New Berlin Observatory, whose first director was Encke. In 1885 he was awarded the

Valz Prize The Valz Prize ''(Prix Valz)'' was awarded by the French Academy of Sciences, from 1877 through 1970, to honor advances in astronomy. History The Valz Prize was established in June 1874 when the widow of astronomer Benjamin Valz, Marie Madeleine ...

from the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

for his work on sunspots.

References

External links

Gustav Spörer (1822–1895)
at the

High Altitude Observatory The High Altitude Observatory (HAO) conducts research and provides support and facilities for the solar-terrestrial physics research community in the areas of solar and heliospheric physics, and the effects of solar variability on the Earth's m ...

site. 1822 births 1895 deaths 19th-century German astronomers {{Germany-astronomer-stub