Johann Gottfried Galle ( German: Johann Gottfried Galle ; June 9, 1812 , Radis - July 10, 1910 , Potsdam ) - German astronomer .
| Johann Gottfried Galle | |
|---|---|
| Johann Gottfried Galle | |
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| Date of Birth | June 9, 1812 |
| Place of Birth | Radis |
| Date of death | July 10, 1910 (98 years old) |
| Place of death | Potsdam |
| Scientific field | astronomy |
| Place of work | University of Breslau |
| Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin |
| Academic rank | Professor |
| Known as | discoverer of the planet Neptune according to the calculations of W. Le Verrier |
| Awards and prizes | Lalande Prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences ( 1846 ) |
| Signature |  |
Biography
He graduated from the University of Berlin , from 1835 began working as an assistant to I.F. Encke at the Berlin Observatory . From 1851 to 1897 he was director of the observatory and professor at the University of Breslau .
In 1872 , for the first time, he proposed to determine the parallax of the Sun from observations of small planets during their oppositions . In the same year, when observing a minor planet (25), Fokey brought out the parallax of the Sun 8.87 ″.
During his life, he studied comets , and in 1894 (with the help of his son Andreas Galle) he published a survey table with elements of the orbits of 178 comets . He himself discovered three comets in a short period: from December 2, 1839 to March 6, 1840 . In 1872 , he established the identity of the Andromedid meteor shower with the decaying comet Biela . In 1843 , he discovered the crepe (inner) ring of Saturn .
September 23, 1846 received a letter from W. Le Verrier with a request to conduct a search for a trans-uranium planet according to the coordinates calculated by him. That same evening, Halle found a new planet , later called Neptune .
A crater on the Moon and a crater on Mars , the ring of Neptune and asteroid No. 2097 (Galle) are named in his honor.
Discovery of Neptune
The main achievement of Halle's scientific career is the discovery of the planet Neptune according to the calculations of W. Le Verrier . Halle's doctoral dissertation, completed in 1845 , was an abridged and critical discussion of Uranus' observations by Ole Römer from October 20 to October 23, 1706 . Around 1845, he sent a copy of the dissertation to Urbain Leverrier, but received a response a year later, on September 23, 1846 , in response Leverrier asked him (Halle) to look at a specific area of the sky to find a predicted new planet that would explain the disturbances in the movement of Uranus . On the same night, after Enke gave him permission (Enke himself did not support Halle), an object matching the description was found, and over the next two evenings it was confirmed that he was a new planet [1] .
Notes
- ↑ Galle . Astronomers - Biographical Directory. Date of appeal September 23, 2013.
Literature
- Grebenikov E.A. , Ryabov Yu.A. Searches and discoveries of planets . - 2nd ed., Revised and add. - M .: Nauka, 1984. - 224 p. - (The main edition of the physical and mathematical literature). - 100,000 copies. Archived March 4, 2016. Archived March 4, 2016 on Wayback Machine
- Kolchinsky I.G., Korsun A.A., Rodriguez M.G. Astronomers: A Biographical Reference. - 2nd ed., Revised. and additional .. - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1986. - 512 p.