Sidus Ludoviciana

Sidus Ludoviciana is a star 8. Size (7.59 mag) in asterism Big Dipper of the constellation Ursa Major ( Ursa Maior ), whose position halfway between Mizar and Alcor is. It's almost four times farther away than these two, however, so it's definitely not part of the Ursa Major group .

Sidus Ludoviciana (top left), as well as Mizar (A and B; bottom left) and Alkor (top right)

On the night of December 2, 1722, Johann Georg Liebknecht observed this freely-eyed, invisible star with a non- achromatic telescope 6 feet long at the Ludoviciana observatory in Giessen . He thought he had noticed a proper motion and thought it was a new planet , which he named "Sidus Ludovicianum" .

He had overlooked, however, that the star had already been observed and noted in 1616 by Benedetto Castelli , a student of Galileo , at the same star location , and therefore could not be a planet. Instead of fame, he earned the ridicule of his colleagues after he had pushed their doubts and objections aside and covered them with insults in protracted arguments.

References and comments

↑ Sidus… Ludovicianum Liebknecht names the supposed discovery in the title of the text published in January 1723, which reports observations from the previous month with different positions ( title page ).

↑ According to Burnham's Celestial Handbook (1978, Volume III, page 1955), the star, also known as Stella Ludoviciana or Ludwigs-Stern , bears its name in honor of Ludwig V (1577–1626), on whom the University of Giessen was founded (1607 , as "Academia Giessena", later "Ludoviciana") goes back. His great-grandson Ernst Ludwig (1667–1739) was the ruling Landgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt in 1722; some authors consider this to be the addressee of the naming (see G. Kirby in Wacky and Wonderful Misconceptions About Our Universe (2018), p. 40 ). A “star belonging to Ludwig” is called in Latin Sidus Ludovicianum ( neuter ). Sidus Ludoviciana is reminiscent of Siderea Ludoviciana ( plural ), a designation that Giovanni Domenico Cassini , the discoverer of some of Saturn's moons, chose to please the Sun King Louis XIV for the planets and moons known at the time (14), but not least refers to the name of the university where JG Liebknecht taught mathematics and theology. The formally enrolled 17-year-old nephew of Ernst-Ludwig, Prince Ludwig Johann Wilhelm Gruno of Hessen-Homburg , was elected Rector magnificus of the Ludoviciana in 1722, who left Giessen for Russia the following year (see Erik Amburger : Ludwig Gruno. In: Neue Deutsche Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 394 f. ( Digitized version .).

literature

Johann Georg Liebknecht : Sidus boreale stella noviter detecta stipatum et ... Ludovicianum nuncupatum. Vulpius, Gießen January 1723, 16 pages ( digitized version )
Johann Georg Liebknecht: D. Io. Georgii Liebknecht, Mathem. in Universitate Ludoviciana PP nec non Societ. Caesar. et Regiae Boruss. Colegae uberior stellae Ludovicianae noviter detectae et cum nuper serenissimus Princeps ac Dominus, Dr. Ludov. Joh. Guil. Gruno, ... nonnullorum dubiis et iniquis praesertim scommatibus Ludov. Phil. Thümmigii inter Hallenses AOP novi rerum naturalium tentatoris opposita. Johann Müller, Giessen 1723, 4. 16 pages
Ludwig Philipp Thümmig : From the new star / that Mr. D. Liebknecht wants to have discovered. In: Attempt for a thorough explanation of the merck-worthy occurrences in nature. Müller, Marburg 1723, Chapter XXVII, p. 219ff ( digitized )
Leos Ondra: Il Volto Nuova di Mizar. In: Coelum Astronomia. Edizione Scientifiche Coelum. Volume 54, 2002, pp. 54-56. (Excerpt in English: Box: Mizar, Alcor, and Sidus Ludoviciana. In: Sky and Telescope. Volume 108, No. 1, 2oo4, p. 74)

Web links

Entry Stella Ludovciana on SIMBAD
Leos Ondra: A New View of Mizar

[sidus_1723-1] Sidus… Ludovicianum Liebknecht names the supposed discovery in the title of the text published in January 1723, which reports observations from the previous month with different positions ( title page ).