Johannes Hevelius Biography

Aaron McCutcheon

Mr. Percival

Honors Astronomy

10/13/11

Johannes Hevelius

          Johannes Hevelius was born January 28^th, 1611 in Danzig, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His parents were both German speaking Lutherans who made a name for themselves in the brewing business. Hevelius followed in his family’s footsteps and was a brewer for a large portion of his life. He even brewed the famous Jopen Beer. Although he was a brewer, he also became involved in his town. He became councilor and eventually mayor of Danzig, Pomeranian Voivodeship. His interest with astronomy was always great, and astronomy became his chief interest when he became councilor. He constructed a great observatory that spanned across the roof of three houses, of which he owned them all. The observatory was known by the name Sternenburg, or “Star Castle”. In May, 1679, a young Englishman by the name of Edmund Halley had been sent to speak with Mr. Hevelius, as Hevelius had grown in notoriety with his work. Robert Hooke and John Flamsteed sent Halley to try and persuade Hevelius to use a telescope for his measurements, as Hevelius had only been using a quadrant and alidade. However, Hevelius refused to do so, and he is known as one of the last astronomers to do major work without the use of telescopes. Hevelius made a startling amount of discoveries and observations during his lifetime. He made observations of sunspots and discovered four comets in 1652, 1661, 1672, and 1677. These comet discoveries led to his thesis that such things as comets revolve around the sun in parabolic paths. However, his most famous contribution to astronomy was his incredibly time consuming charting of the Moon’s surface. He spent four whole years doing so, and he even discovered the Moon’s libration in longitude. His extensive work with the Moon entitles him to be called the founder of lunar topography. In 1679, a fire destroyed much of his house and his observatory, but he quickly rebuilt and continued with his work. In 1683, he found and named the constellation Scutum (then Scutum Sobiescianum). His health began to fail after the shock of the fire in 1679, and Johannes Hevelius died on his 76^th birthday, January 28, 1687. In order to honor the 400^th anniversary of his birth, 2011 is celebrated as “Year of Jan Heveliusz” in Poland.