Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke (1835-97) (original) (raw)

Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke (February 5, 1835 - December 3, 1897)

Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke was born on February 5, 1835 in Groß-Heere near Hildesheim, Germany. He studied astronomy at Göttingen, Berlin and Bonn and worked with Gauss, Encke and Argelander. In 1858 he was appointed at the observatory in Pulkowa, Russia. Because of weak health, he was forced to return to Bonn in 1865. In the following years he was slowly recovering, and in 1872, he accepted an appointment as Professor of Astronomy in Strassburg. After 9 years as director, observer and instructor in Strassburg, his health failed again in 1881. Winnecke died on December 3, 1897 at Bonn.

Winnecke was an assiduous observer who discovered 10 comets between 1854 and 1877, among them periodic comet 7/P Pons-Winnecke. One of them, 1868 II, became famous for being the first one to have its spectrum observed (visually by William Huggins). He did a large number of stellar observations. In Strasbourg, he initiated a survey of 'nebulae' with the goal of obtaining exact nebular positions which was completed by Kobold and Wirtz in 1911 only.

In 1869, he published a paper entitled "Doppelsternmessungen(Double Star Measurements), in Astronomische Nachrichten No. 1738, vol 73, p 147-160, published in Altona, February 8, 1869. In this paper he included 7 newly discovered double stars, the "Winnecke Catalog of Double Stars" (Winnecke 1869). No. 4 of them, Winnecke 4, is M40, as found out by John Mallas around 1965.

Winnecke discovered several other deepsky objects, including 8 real and 1 non-existing NGC objects (communicated by letter to Dreyer).

Comets:

C/1854 Y1 1854 V Winnecke-Dien (I.1855) 7P/1858 E1 1858 II P/Pons-Winnecke (II. 1858) C/1867 S1 1867 III Baeker-Winnecke C/1868 L1 1868 II Winnecke 7P/1869 G1 1869 I 1869a P/Pons-Winnecke C/1870 K1 1870 I 1870a Winnecke C/1870 W1 1870 IV 1870d Winnecke C/1871 G1 1871 I 1871a Winnecke C/1874 D1 1874 I 1874a Winnecke C/1874 G1 1874 II 1874b Winnecke 7P/ 1875 I 1875b P/Pons-Winnecke C/1877 G1 1877 II 1877b Winnecke

Deepsky (NGC) Objects:

Object RA (2000.0) Dec Con Type o Discov Other/Comment

NGC 1360 03:33.3 -25:51 For PN 1868 Jan Swift (1857)
NGC 1398 03:38.9 -26:20 For GS ! 1868 Dec Block (1879) NGC 2146 06:18.7 +78:21 Cam GSpec ! 1876 NGC 2276 07:27. +85:45 Cep GS ! 1876 NGC 2300 07:32. +85:43 Cep GS0 1876 Borelly (1872) NGC 3222 10:22.6 +19:53 Vir GSB0 ! 1855 Mar Auw 27 NGC 4760 12:53.1 -10:30 Vir GE ! 1876 Mar NGC 6366 17:27.7 -05:05 Oph GC ! 1860 Apr Auw 36 NGC 6655 18:34.4 -05:59 Sct DS ! 1854 Jul Auw 42 NGC 6704 18:50.9 -05:12 Sct OC ! 1854 Jul Auw 43 NGC 6791 19:20.7 +37:51 Lyr OC ! 1853 Dec Auw 45

Key: Type: DS, Double Star; GC, Globular Cluster; GE, Elliptical Galaxy; GS, Spiral Galaxy - GS0, of type S0 - GSB0, of type SB0 - GS pec, peculiar; OC, Open Cluster; PN, Planetary Nebula. o: "!" marks original discoveries.

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