Joseph Johann Littrow
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 Portrait of Joseph Johann von Littrow from his 1836 book Physische Astronomie (Physical Astronomy). |
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| Born | March 13, 1781 Horovský Týn, Czech Republic |
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| Died | November 30, 1840 Vienna, Austria |
| Residence |  Czech Republic Austria |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Field | Astronomer |
| Institution | Krakau University Kazan University Vienna Observatory |
| Notable Students | Nikolai Brashman Ivan Simonov |
| Known for | Littrow projection |
| Note that he was the father of Karl L. Littrow. | |
Joseph Johann von Littrow (March 13, 1781 – November 30, 1840) was an Austrian astronomer. He was the father of Karl L. Littrow and the advisor of the mathematician Nikolai Brashman.
He became director of the Vienna Observatory in 1819, until 1840. He created the only conformal retroazimuthal map projection, which is known as the Littrow projection.
Von Littrow is often associated with a proposal to dig a large circular canal in the Sahara desert and fill it with burning kerosene, thus communicating the fact of human intelligence to aliens who may be observing earth. However, Von Littrow's connection with this scheme may be apocryphal [1] [2].
The Litrow crater on the Moon was named in his honour.
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