James Challis
James Challis (born December 12, 1803 in Braintree in Essex , † December 3, 1882 in Cambridge ) was an English astronomer .
James Challis studied in at the University of Cambridge , and was designed by 1836 to 1878 / 79 Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy , and until 1861 director of the Observatory of Cambridge Observatory .
He has published 12 volumes of Meridian Observations and numerous observations of small planets and comets . In August 1846 he succeeded in systematically searching for the planet Neptune, calculated by John Couch Adams , on the other side of the Uranus orbit , but without recognizing it, even before it was found by the German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle . From 1859 to 1876 he also developed a mechanical gravitation explanation .
The moon crater Challis is named after him.
literature
- Tom Standage : The Neptune File ISBN 071399472X (German. Die Neptun . Frankfurt a. M .: Campus, 2001. ISBN 3-593-36676-2 )
Web links
- La découverte de Neptune
- J. Challis publications in the Astrophysics Data System
- A .: Notice of death. Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol. 104 (1883), p. 129. (Obituary to J. Challis, English)
- JWLG: James Challis. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, p. 160–179 (obituary to J. Challis, English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Challis, James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1803 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bramtree , Essex |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 3, 1882 |
| Place of death | Cambridge |