Johann Gottfried Köhler (15 December 1745 – 19 September 1801) was a German
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
who discovered a number of
nebulae,
star clusters, and
galaxies.
Köhler is best remembered for his discovery of
Open Cluster M67,
Elliptical Galaxy M59, and
Elliptical Galaxy M60
Messier 60 or M60, also known as NGC 4649, is an elliptical galaxy approximately 57 million light-years away in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. Together with NGC 4647, it forms a pair known as Arp 116. Messier 60 and nearby ellipti ...
. The latter two were discovered on the same day, 11 April 1779.
He worked with the noted astronomer
Johann Elert Bode
Johann Elert Bode (; 19 January 1747 – 23 November 1826) was a German astronomer known for his reformulation and popularisation of the Titius–Bode law. Bode determined the orbit of Uranus and suggested the planet's name.
Life and career
B ...
, who refined and published Köhler's proposal for the symbol of
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...
.
From 1784 he was the director of
Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon.
[Klaus Schillinger: ''Johann Gottfried Köhler - Inspektor am Mathematisch-Physikalischen Salon Dresden -aktiver Beobachter des gestirnten Himmels im letzten Viertel des 18. Jahrhunderts''. In: ''Der Meister und die Fernrohre''. (Acta Historica Astronomiae Vol. 33) Frankfurt(Main) 2007, S. 261f]
References
1745 births
1801 deaths
18th-century German astronomers
Scientists from Dresden
{{Germany-astronomer-stub