Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius was born in 1611
and died in 1689, thus living for 88 years. During his life he accomplished
many things, especially in the field of astronomy. His father was a prosperous
merchant in Germany, thus, Hevelius was sent to school. He originally went to
Leiden, then studied at Danzig Gymnasium, then a school at Gondeltsch, then
back to Danzig Gymnasium, then back to Leiden. On his second time at Leiden, Hevelius
studied jurisprudence. On his second time as Danzig Gymnasium, Hevelius studied
under Peter Krueger. Krueger saw that Hevelius learned and understood
mathematics and astronomy, thus starting Johannes Hevelius on the path to
astronomy greatness. Hevelius also worked in the fields with instrument making
and engraving. In 1635 he married Katharina Rebesche, and she helped a lot with
Hevelius’ astronomical research and observations. Hevelius’ goal in his studies
was to create a detailed star catalog, which was no easy thing to do in the
1600s.
In 1640, Hevelius built his first observatory, for astronomical
purposes. Inside this observatory Hevelius developed several instruments. One
of these instruments includes an experimental pendulum clock. Hevelius tasked a
clockmaker, Wolfgang Günther, and an instrument make, unnamed, to develop his
two pendulum clock prototypes. Günther worked to develop the prototypes for the
clock and multiple other instruments for Hevelius. In 1659, Hevelius presented
a small prototype to the Polish king, Johan Kasimir. Unfortunately, the
observatory was burned to the ground in 1679.
In 1656, Hevelius calls his colleague, Christaan
Huygens, a dear friend and a marvel to astronomy. Hevelius sent many if not all
of his notes to Huygens. These notes include: Selenographia in 1647, Mercurius
in sole vicus in 1662, Prodromus
cometicus in 1665, Cometographia in
1668, and Machina Coelestis in 1673.
A French astronomer, Ismael Bouillau, an English astronomer, Edmund Halley, and
Christaan’s brother, Philips Huygens, all visited Hevelius throughout his years
as an astronomer. In 1664 Johannes Hevelius became a member of the English
Royal Society of Sciences. In 1666, Hevelius also became a member of the French
Académie des Sciences. It was established then that Johannes Hevelius had
established global recognition.
The work that Johannes Hevelius did to achieve his
global fame was impressive. It was established that Hevelius had an eye for
observations, and thus kept detailed maps of much of the sky. Hevelius carefully
charted detailed patterns of the Moon, the phases of Mercury, sunspots, and
multiple comets.
Johannes Hevelius’ most famous work was Selenographia, which was a complete map
of the Moon. In this piece of work, Hevelius re-named many features, such as
mountains and craters, on the moon. Many of these names are still in use today.
The most astonishing part of this work was the drawing of the moon in its
different stages of libration. This is how Selenographia
ends, with a description of the mounted lunar globe. This description shows the
representation of librational movements.
In 1663, Hevelius’ wife Katharina died, thus he then
marries a sixteen year-old named Elisabeth Koopman. Like his first wife,
Elisabeth helped Hevelius with his observations. Unfortunately in 1679, a fire
consumed much of Hevelius’ instruments and his workshop. Most of his records
were destroyed, but he managed to save his all-important star catalog.
In 1687, Hevelius creates his Firmamentum Sobiescianum. This
is Hevelius’ star atlas. It contained many new stars and constellations. The
constellations that Hevelius named and discovered include, Scutum, Lacerta, Vulpecula cum Anser, Canes Venatici, Leo Minor, Lynx, Cerberus, Mons Maenalus, and Triangulum
Minus. This star chart catalogued more than 1500 stellar positions, and
grew to expand the catalogue of Tycho Brahe.
Also in 1687, when Johannes Hevelius died, his wife,
Elisabeth, made sure his remaining works did not go to waste. She made sure
that his remaining works were printed.
