Lipót Schulhof (12 March 1847 in Baja – October 1921 in Paris; hu, Schulhof Lipót; german: Leopold Schulhof or Schulhoff; french: Léopold Schulhof) was a
Hungarian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...
Aron Moskovits, ''Jewish education in Hungary (1848-1948)'', p. 94
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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
, born in the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, who first worked at the
Vienna Observatory
The Vienna Observatory (german: Universitätssternwarte Wien) is an astronomical observatory in Vienna, Austria. It is part of the University of Vienna. The first observatory was built in 1753–1754 on the roof of one of the university buildings ...
and later spent most of his time at the
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...
, observing
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
s and
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
s.
He provided a prediction for the 1893 return of comet
15P/Finlay
Comet Finlay is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 6 years discovered by William Henry Finlay ( Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa) on September 26, 1886. The next perihelion passage is July 13, 2021 when the comet will h ...
, discovered the main-belt asteroid
147 Protogeneia
Protogeneia ( minor planet designation: 147 Protogenia) is a large main belt asteroid that was discovered by Hungarian astronomer Lipót Schulhof on July 10, 1875, from the Vienna Observatory; it was his only asteroid discovery. Its name is Gree ...
in 1875, and was awarded the
Lalande Prize
The Lalande Prize (French: ''Prix Lalande'' also known as Lalande Medal) was an award for scientific advances in astronomy, given from 1802 until 1970 by the French Academy of Sciences.
The prize was endowed by astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1801 ...
of the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...
in 1893. Schulhof won the Lalande Prize again in 1920 for his calculation, assisted by
Joseph Bossert
Joseph François Bossert (30 November 1851 – 21 June 1906) was a French astronomer.
Bossert began study at age fifteen at the Paris Observatory. He calculated the orbits of asteroids and comets. He was the main author of three star catalogues ...
, of the orbit of the periodic comet 12P/Pons–Brooks, discovered in 1812 by Pons.
Schulhof calculated the orbits of many asteroids and comets, taking perturbative interactions into account. With his exhaustive studies of objects such as comet
27P/Crommelin
Comet Crommelin, also known as Comet Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes, is a periodic comet with an orbital period of almost 28 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with (20 years <
lost comet
A lost comet is one which was not detected during its most recent perihelion passage. This generally happens when data is insufficient to reliably calculate the comet's location or if the solar elongation is unfavorable near perihelion passage. T ...
s as well as those of
lost minor planet
A minor planet is "lost" when today's observers cannot find it, because its location is too uncertain to target observations. This happens if the orbital elements of a minor planet are not known accurately enough, typically because the observat ...
s.
The main-belt asteroid 2384 Schulhof, discovered by
Marguerite Laugier
Marguerite Laugier (née Lhomme) (12 September 1896 – 10 June 1976) was a French astronomer active at the Nice Observatory from the 1930s to the 1950s. Contemporary astronomical articles refer to her as "Madame Laugier".
The Minor Planet Cente ...