- Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
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This article is about the American astronomer. For the German astronomer (who lived 1806–1880), see Christian August Friedrich Peters .
Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters.
Asteroids discovered: 48 72 Feronia May 29, 1861 75 Eurydike September 22, 1862 77 Frigga November 12, 1862 85 Io September 19, 1865 88 Thisbe June 15, 1866 92 Undina July 7, 1867 98 Ianthe April 18, 1868 102 Miriam August 22, 1868 109 Felicitas October 9, 1869 111 Ate August 14, 1870 112 Iphigenia September 19, 1870 114 Kassandra July 23, 1871 116 Sirona September 8, 1871 122 Gerda July 31, 1872 123 Brunhild July 31, 1872 124 Alkeste August 23, 1872 129 Antigone February 5, 1873 130 Elektra February 17, 1873 131 Vala May 24, 1873 135 Hertha February 18, 1874 144 Vibilia June 3, 1875 145 Adeona June 3, 1875 160 Una February 20, 1876 165 Loreley August 9, 1876 166 Rhodope August 15, 1876 167 Urda August 28, 1876 176 Iduna October 14, 1877 185 Eunike March 1, 1878 188 Menippe June 18, 1878 189 Phthia September 9, 1878 190 Ismene September 22, 1878 191 Kolga September 30, 1878 194 Prokne March 21, 1879 196 Philomela May 14, 1879 199 Byblis July 9, 1879 200 Dynamene July 27, 1879 202 Chryseïs September 11, 1879 203 Pompeja September 25, 1879 206 Hersilia October 13, 1879 209 Dido October 22, 1879 213 Lilaea February 16, 1880 234 Barbara August 12, 1883 249 Ilse August 16, 1885 259 Aletheia June 28, 1886 261 Prymno October 31, 1886 264 Libussa December 22, 1886 270 Anahita October 8, 1887 287 Nephthys August 25, 1889 Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters (September 19, 1813–July 18, 1890) was a German-American astronomer, and one of the first to discover asteroids.
He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, then part of Denmark but later part of Germany, and later studied under Carl Friedrich Gauss. Peters spoke many languages and gravitated to Italy at the time of the Italian unification. His association with radical groups brought him to the attention of authorities, and he fled to Ottoman Turkey, where he became a government advisor. At the suggestion of the resident U.S. consul, he emigrated to the United States in 1854.
Working at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York (near Utica), he was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 48 of them, beginning with 72 Feronia in 1861 and ending with 287 Nephthys in 1889.
He was involved in litigation in 1889 with his former assistant Charles A. Borst, and the "Great Star-Catalog Case" Peters v. Borst went before the Supreme Court of New York. The judge sided with Peters, but many astronomers and newspapers sided with Borst. Peters died not long after. After his death, the judgment was ultimately reversed on appeal and a new trial was ordered, but it never took place. The eminent astronomer Simon Newcomb devotes a chapter in his memoirs to Peters, as an object lesson in how great scientific talent and poor ethical standards may coexist in a single individual.[1]
Besides asteroids, he co-discovered the periodic comet 80P/Peters-Hartley, and also discovered various nebulae and galaxies.
He died on his bed July 18, 1890 in Utica.
References
- ^ Simon Newcomb, The Reminiscences of an Astronomer, (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903), p. 372-381
- Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Christian H.F. Peters
Categories:- 1813 births
- 1890 deaths
- 19th-century astronomers
- American people of Danish descent
- American astronomers
- Asteroid discoverers
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