All Topics  
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers

 
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers
 
 
  Topics Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers Topic Home

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (October 11, 1758 – March 2, 1840) was a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
 and astronomer
Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies Celestial body such as planets, stars, and Galaxy.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws....
.

Life and career
Olbers was born in Arbergen, near Bremen, and studied to be a physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
 at Göttingen
Göttingen

G?ttingen is a college town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the Capital of the district of G?ttingen . The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686....
. After his graduation in 1780, he began practicing medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
 in Bremen, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. At night he dedicated his time to astronomical
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
 observation, making the upper story of his home into an observatory
Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
. He also devised the first satisfactory method of calculating cometary orbits.

On March 28 1802, Olbers discovered and named the asteroid
Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
 Pallas
2 Pallas

'2 Pallas' is one of the largest asteroids and is located in the main asteroid belt. It was the second asteroid to be discovered, by astronomy Heinrich Wilhelm Matth?us Olbers on March 28, 1802....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers'
Start a new discussion about 'Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (October 11, 1758 – March 2, 1840) was a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
 and astronomer
Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies Celestial body such as planets, stars, and Galaxy.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws....
.

Life and career


Olbers was born in Arbergen, near Bremen, and studied to be a physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
 at Göttingen
Göttingen

G?ttingen is a college town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the Capital of the district of G?ttingen . The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686....
. After his graduation in 1780, he began practicing medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
 in Bremen, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. At night he dedicated his time to astronomical
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
 observation, making the upper story of his home into an observatory
Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
. He also devised the first satisfactory method of calculating cometary orbits.

On March 28 1802, Olbers discovered and named the asteroid
Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
 Pallas
2 Pallas

'2 Pallas' is one of the largest asteroids and is located in the main asteroid belt. It was the second asteroid to be discovered, by astronomy Heinrich Wilhelm Matth?us Olbers on March 28, 1802....
. Five years later, on March 29 1807, he discovered the asteroid Vesta
4 Vesta

4 Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of about 530 km and an estimated mass of 9% of the mass of the entire asteroid belt....
, which he allowed Carl Friedrich Gauss
Carl Friedrich Gauss

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss. was a Germans mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, mathematical analysis, Differential geometry and topology, geodesy, electrostatics, astronomy and optics....
 to name. As the word "asteroid" was not yet coined, the literature of the time referred to these minor planets as planets in their own right. He proposed that the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets....
, where these objects lay, was the remnants of a planet that had been destroyed. This theory is now discarded by most of the scientific community.

On March 6 1815, Olbers also discovered a periodic comet
Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
, now named after him (formally designated 13P/Olbers
13P/Olbers

13P/Olbers is a periodic comet in our solar system.Heinrich Wilhelm Matth?us Olbers discovered the comet on March 6, 1815. Its orbit was first computed by Carl Friedrich Gauss on March 31, Friedrich Bessel calculated an orbital period as 73 Julian year , later as 73.9 a, calculations by other astronomers have resulted anywhere between 72 a...
).

Olbers was deputed by his fellow-citizens to assist at the baptism
Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered....
 of Napoleon II of France
Napoleon II of France

Napol?on Fran?ois Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Duke of Reichstadt was the son of Napoleon I of France and his second wife, Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma....
 on June 9, 1811, and he was a member of the corps legislatif in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 1812-1813. He died in Bremen at the age of eighty-one. He was twice married, and one son survived him.

Olbers' paradox
Olbers' paradox

Olbers' paradox, is the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the supposition of an infinite and eternal static universe. It was described by the Germany astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers in 1823 and earlier by Johannes Kepler in 1610 and Edmond Halley and Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in the 18th century....
, described by him in 1823 (and then reformulated in 1826), states that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the supposition of an infinite and eternal static universe
Static universe

The idea of a static universe or "Einstein's universe" is one which demands that space is not metric expansion of space nor contracting but rather is dynamically stable....
.

Honors

The following celestial features are named for him:
  • 13P/Olbers
    13P/Olbers

    13P/Olbers is a periodic comet in our solar system.Heinrich Wilhelm Matth?us Olbers discovered the comet on March 6, 1815. Its orbit was first computed by Carl Friedrich Gauss on March 31, Friedrich Bessel calculated an orbital period as 73 Julian year , later as 73.9 a, calculations by other astronomers have resulted anywhere between 72 a...
     is a periodic comet
    Comet

    A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
    .
  • Asteroid
    Asteroid

    Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
     1002 Olbersia
    1002 Olbersia

    1002 Olbersia is a asteroid belt. It was discovered by Vladimir Aleksandrovich Albitzky on August 15, 1923. It was named after Heinrich Wilhelm Matth?us Olbers....
    .
  • The crater Olbers
    Olbers (crater)

    Olbers is a moon Impact crater that lies at the west edge of the Oceanus Procellarum, near the western limb of the Moon. It lies to the northwest of the crater Hevelius , and to the north of the indistinct Hedin ....
     on the Moon
    Moon

    The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
    .
  • Olbers, a 200-km-diameter dark albedo feature on Vesta's surface


Further reading



- see, for instance,