Christian August Friedrich Peters

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Christian August Friedrich Peters

Christian August Friedrich Peters (born September 7, 1806 in Hamburg , † May 8, 1880 in Kiel ) was a German astronomer .

Life

Peters educated himself through self-study and from 1826 to 1832, under the direction of Heinrich Christian Schumacher, took part in the work of the Altona observatory , the Holstein degree measurement and the determination of the simple seconds pendulum at Gut Güldenstein .

In 1833 he was appointed assistant at the Hamburg observatory . In 1839 he came to the Russian Pulkowa observatory near Saint Petersburg in the same position . Here he was elected adjunct of the Academy of Sciences in 1842 , extraordinary member of the academy in 1847 and a corresponding member in 1849.

Peters became an associate professor of astronomy in Königsberg in 1849 . In 1851 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . From 1853 he was a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and from 1859 its external member. In 1857 he became a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris and in 1866 of the Prussian Academy of Sciences .

In 1854 he became the last director of the Altona observatory, which at that time was in economic difficulties. Altona and the observatory were under Danish administration at the time . When the Elbe Duchies separated from Denmark in 1864, it was decided to relocate the observatory to the University of Kiel . The relocation was completed in 1872. In 1873 Peters was appointed full professor in Kiel.

As the successor to Schumacher and Adolph Cornelius Petersen , Peters published the Astronomical News . Under his leadership, however, the journal experienced a significant loss of quality, as Peters had fallen out with a number of astronomers and the journal was shunned by many authors.

Peters died in Kiel in 1880 at the age of 73.

Honors

In 1852 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society . In 1853 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , in 1867 to the National Academy of Sciences . In 1879 he received the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art .

In 1935 the lunar crater Peters was named after him.

Works

  • Numerus constans nutationis ex ascensionibus rectis stellae polaris in specula Dorpatensi annis 1822 ad 1838 observatis deductus . (1842)
  • Results from observations of the Pole Star on the Ertel vertical circle . 1842
  • Research on the parallaxe des étoiles fixes . ( 1847 )
  • On Sirius's Own Movement , Astronomical News No. 745, 1-16; No. 746, 17-32; No. 747, 33-48; No. 748, 49–58, Altona 1851. This writing led to the discovery of the Sirius companion.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 188.
  2. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter P. Académie des sciences, accessed on February 2, 2020 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Peters, Christian August Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1880
Place of death Kiel