Eduard Heis

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Eduard Heis

Eduard Heis (born February 18, 1806 in Cologne , † June 30, 1877 in Münster ) was a German mathematician and astronomer . As a middle school teacher he founded the Volkssternwarte Aachen and researched, among other things, periodic meteor streams and the brightness of the Milky Way . After the publication of mathematical textbooks, he was appointed to the University of Münster , where he later became rector.

Career

Heis attended a grammar school in Cologne until 1824 and then began studying in Bonn . During his studies he was awarded two prizes, one for the translation of a Latin text, "De sectione determinata" by Apollonius Pergaeus , and the other for the calculation of a solar eclipse described by Ennius ("Soli luna obstitit et nox") by Cicero was mentioned.

After graduating, Heis taught mathematics and natural sciences at a Cologne secondary school and the Friedrich Wilhelm grammar school there . In 1837 he switched to the secondary and industrial school in Aachen as a senior teacher . On the roof of the Aachen citizen school , he set up a " sky post" for astronomical observations, the forerunner of the Aachen public observatory. During this time he carried out extensive sky observations, with a particular focus on variable stars and meteors . In 1839 he began to study the frequency and intensity of Perseids and other periodic meteor streams (see below).

In 1852, at the request of Alexander von Humboldt , Heis went to the University of Münster and took over the chair of mathematics and astronomy for the next 25 years . In 1869 he became rector of the university. He became an honorary member of the Alsatia Catholic Student Union (now VKDSt. Saxonia Münster in the CV ).

Since Heis only found a four-inch telescope (a telescope with a 10 cm lens opening ) in Münster , he observed the sky primarily with bare eyes , examining in particular the Milky Way , the zodiacal light and polar lights . In addition, he dealt with the phenomenon of sunspots .

He presented the results of his observations in several publications, including a sky atlas with twelve maps ("Atlas Coelestis"), a star catalog with 5,421 stars and the first true-to-life drawing of the Milky Way. In 1849 a work was published on his meteor observations, in which he described 15,000 meteors.

He also published mathematical textbooks. His "collection of examples and exercises from general arithmetic and algebra " reached 107 editions in several languages.

Perseids and other periodic meteor streams

Heis used the dark sky of his roof observatory on the terrace of the Aachen citizen school for many types of free-eyed sky observations , especially of variable stars and meteors . In 1839 he began to study in detail the frequency and intensity of the Perseids and other periodic meteor streams.

He published a summary of his 10-year observations in 1849 in Dumont-Verlag Cologne under the title The periodical shooting stars and the results of the apparitions, derived from the observations made in Aachen over the past ten years . In it he analyzes the traces of 1761 meteors, which he observed over six years in around 20 summer nights as well as in November and December.

Heis was one of the first astronomers to prove - 30 years before Giovanni Schiaparelli's groundbreaking work on the connection between falling stars and comets - that the majority of meteors show seasonal, periodic behavior. He not only analyzed the long-known Perseids , but also consolidated knowledge of the later so named Cygnids , Ursids and Leonids .

From the individual shooting stars drawn in his star atlas , he determined what are known as central tracks , for each of which he combined 5–10 approximately parallel light tracks. Of the summer meteors, around 20–50% were Perseids and 10–20% Cygnids , whose radians he calculated from the intersection of their 3–5 center tracks. The Perseid radians averaged 50 ° / 54 ° - which fits well with today's values ​​- and spread on average by ± 3 ° (RA.cosD) and ± 2 ° ( D ). It is noticeable, however, that the Perseid maxima more on August 11 than on the following night on 12/13. August occurred.

Heis determined the radians of the Kappa cygnids to be around 303 ° / 62 ° with standard deviations of ± 4 ° and ± 2 °, respectively. He was also able to spot another swarm of shooting stars that originated from the North Star . In addition to these periodic swarms, around 10–20% of the meteors that could not be assigned occurred, which are now referred to as sporadic .

For the November and December shooting stars Heis was able to determine the following four radians: 37 ° / 39 ° in Perseus, 8 ° 56 ° in Cassiopeia, 280 ° / 51 ° in the Dragon and 150 ° / 28 ° in the Great Lion. The latter (mostly only weak) meteor shower belongs to the Leonids , which only occur increasingly every 33 years.

Publications and honors

Eduard Heis was a co-founder of the journal "Natur und Revelation" (1855) and from 1857 to 1877 editor of the scientific "Wochenschrift für Astronomie, Meteorologie und Geographie".

As a devout Catholic , he dedicated his sky atlas to Pope Pius IX. and Father Angelo Secchi , head of the Vatican Observatory . Shortly before his death, he worked on a design for the ceiling of the St. Paulus Cathedral in Münster with symbolically depicted constellations : "The old painting of the cathedral vault in Münster was exposed; however, in the area of ​​the high altar, five caps remained where the old could no longer be restored. On his [Heis'] advice, five constellations (Pisces, Virgo, Orion, Ursa maior, Crux) were selected, all but one of which appear in the Sky Atlas: they turned gold on a blue background, after his Cardboard boxes attached. "

Heis died of a stroke three months before his 50th anniversary as a teacher .

Contemporary witnesses describe him as an excellent teacher, a fatherly friend of his students and an exemplary husband and father.

He has received numerous honors for his achievements. In 1852 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn . On June 1, 1861 ( matriculation no. 1959 ) he was elected a member of the Leopoldina with the nickname Hevel . In 1874 he was accepted into the Royal Astronomical Society of London . He was a member of the scientific society in Brussels .

In his memory, the lunar crater Heis was named after him. In Münster the "Heisstrasse" bears his name, in Cologne the "Eduard-Heis-Strasse".

Fonts

  • The periodic shooting stars and the results of the apparitions, derived from the observations made in Aachen over the past ten years . Cologne 1849 Google Books
  • De Magnitudine Relativa de Numeroque Accurato Stellarum. Quae solis oculis conspiciuntur Fixarum. Cologne 1852 Google Books
  • Atlas Coelestis Novus , Dumont-Schauberg, Cologne 1872 Archives
  • Falling stars observations , 1875
  • Zodiacal observations
  • Collection of examples and exercises from general arithmetic and algebra , Cologne, 1872

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allocation and averaging by Geof , August 20, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Hey, Eduard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1877
Place of death Muenster