Johann Elert Bode

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Johann Elert Bode, copper engraving by Gustav Lüderitz (1824)
Signature Johann Elert Bode.PNG
Star map by JE Bode from 1782, from the presentation of the stars on XXXIV copper plates

Johann Elert Bode (born January 19, 1747 in Hamburg , † November 23, 1826 in Berlin ) was a German astronomer .

Live and act

Bode was born as the first of nine children in a Hamburg merchant family. He grew up in Hamburg and received his education there primarily from his father. During his youth, he suffered a serious disease of his right eye, which led to severe visual impairment. In 1765 the doctor Heinrich Reimarus introduced him to the mathematics teacher Johann Georg Büsch at the Academic Gymnasium , who was impressed by Bode's mathematical abilities. Büsch allowed Bode to use his library and instruments in his collection of instruments for self-study. His first scientific treatise appeared in 1766 when Bode was 19 years old. She dealt with the solar eclipse of August 5, 1766. This was followed by work on the Venus transit of June 3, 1769, as well as the independent co-discovery of comet C / 1769 P1 (Messier) in 1769 and the observation of comet D / 1770 L1 (Lexell 1) in 1770.

As early as 1774 he published the first Berlin Astronomical Yearbook for 1776 . In 1772, Bode published the empirical formula discovered by Johann Daniel Titius in 1766 and only mentioned in a footnote - the later so-called Titius-Bode series . According to this rule, the approximate distances of the planetary orbits from the sun up to Uranus can be shown . On December 31, 1774, he discovered the galaxies Messier 81 and M 82 . In 1786 he became director of the Berlin observatory , which he headed until the previous year of his death.

Bode became famous in the professional world primarily for his work on the orbit of Uranus, which was discovered in 1781. Since this planet is still visible with the naked eye, Bode looked for its positions in old star catalogs . In fact, he managed to find numerous earlier positions, the first as early as 1690 in the catalog of John Flamsteed , where Uranus is registered as a star named 34 Tauri . This made it possible to calculate the planetary orbit much earlier than expected with high accuracy. Discrepancies between the positions calculated in this way and actual observations suggested another outer planet and then led to the discovery of Neptune in 1846 . The naming of Uranus goes back to Bode's suggestion, it was generally accepted at the latest with the discovery of Neptune. Previously, the planet was also named Herschel after its discoverer Wilhelm Herschel or, at his suggestion, Georgium Sidus after the British King George III. called.

In addition to the annual yearbook, Bode published the guide to the knowledge of the starry sky , which presented the constellations and, with more than ten editions, was a bestseller according to the standards of the time, and two atlases of the sky. The first, Presentation of the Stars , was aimed at amateurs and enthusiasts, the second, Uranographia , is considered to be the last masterpiece of artistic celestial cartography .

On January 6, 1779, he discovered the comet C / 1779 A1 (Bode) named after him . In August 1798 he took part in the first European astronomer congress at the Seeberg observatory in Gotha , where he met the French mathematician and astronomer Jérôme Lalande at the invitation of Franz Xaver von Zach .

The lunar crater Bode and the minor planet (998) Bodea were named after Bode.

Works

  • Instructions for the knowledge of the starry sky. Harmsen, Hamburg 1768 ( 7th edition 1801 ).
  • Brief treatise of the comet that appeared in the autumn of this 1769th year, together with a geometrical outline of its true orbit around the sun. Harmsen, Hamburg 1769, urn : nbn: de: gbv: 8: 2-693192
  • Explanation of astronomy. Himburg, Berlin 1778 ( part 1, 2nd edition 1793 , part 2, 3rd edition 1808 , digitized version (parts 1 and 2, 2nd edition 1793)).
  • Presentation of the stars on XXXIV copper plates. Lange, Berlin / Stralsund 1782 ( books.google.de ).
  • From the newly discovered planet. Berlin, 1784
  • Instructions for general knowledge of the globe. Himburg, Berlin 1786 ( Digitale-sammlungen.de ); 2nd, improved edition 1803 ( books.google.de ).
  • Draft of the Astronomical Sciences. 1794 ( new edition 1825 ).
  • Uranographia, sive astrorum descriptio viginti tabulis aeneis incisa ex recentissimis et absolutissimis Astronomorum observationibus. Self-published, Berlin 1801.
  • General description and evidence of the stars together with a list of the straight ascent and deviation from 17240 stars, double stars, nebulae and star clusters. Self-published, Berlin 1801 ( books.google.de ).
  • Addendum to his instructions for the knowledge of the starry sky as well as for its consideration of the stars and the world structure. Nicolai, Berlin 1817 ( books.google.de ).

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Bode, Johann Elert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1747
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1826
Place of death Berlin