Erik Prosperin

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Erik Prosperin (1739–1803) was a Swedish astronomer. He was lecturer in Mathematics and Physics at Uppsala University in 1767, professor of observational astronomy (Observator) in 1773–1796 and professor of Astronomy in 1797–1798. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) in Stockholm in 1771 and member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala in 1774 (secretary from 1786 onwards).

He was a famous calculator of orbits: comets, planets and their satellites. He calculated the orbits of the new (discovered in 1781) planet Uranus —for which he proposed the names Astraea, Cybele, and Neptune— and its satellites. He was also one of the first to calculate the orbit of the first asteroid, 1 Ceres, in 1801.

Prosperin calculated orbits for a total of 84 comets, especially Comet Messier (C/1769 P1), Comet Lexell (D/1770 L1)), the Great Comet of 1771 (C/1771 A1, 1770 II), Comet Montaigne (C/1774 P1), Comet Bode (C/1779 A1), and Comet Encke (2P/1795 V1).

The asteroid 7292 Prosperin was named in his honour.