Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
| 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 a pioneer in the study of asteroids.
He was born in Koldenbüttel in Schleswig, 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 the Ottoman Empire, 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. Besides asteroids, he co-discovered the periodic comet 80P/Peters–Hartley, and also discovered various nebulae and galaxies.
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.[1] 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.[2]
He died July 18, 1890 in Utica. Historian William Sheehan notes, "Peters was found lying, a half-burned cigar at his fingertips, on the doorstep of the building where he lodged; observing cap on his head, he had fallen in the line of duty, on the way to the observatory the night before."[3]
References
- ↑ "At War about the Stars," The New York Times (February 1, 1889)
- ↑ Simon Newcomb, The Reminiscences of an Astronomer, (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903), p. 372-381
- ↑ William Sheehan, "Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
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