Virgilio Trettenero (4 February 1822 – 23 May 1863) was an Italian mathematician and astronomer born in

Recoaro Terme Recoaro Terme (Cimbrian: 'Recobör'', ''Rocabör'' o ''Ricaber' ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is known for his mineral spring waters: ''Lora'' is bottled and commercialized, while some of the others are us ...

, Province of Vicenza, Italy. Active between 1848–1863, his name is linked to the creation of the stellar catalogs, a work initiated by

Giovanni Padovani Giovanni Padovani (or Paduani) (b. c. 1512) was an Italian mathematician and astronomer. He lived in Verona and was a student of Pietro Pitati. He published a number of esteemed treatises on various astronomical and mathematical subjects, the mos ...

in 1838 using the meridian circle, which he purchased. The asteroid 16715 Trettenero, discovered on 20 October 1995 at the San Vittore Observatory, in Bologna, was named so in his honour.

Life

Son of Domenico, owner of a hotel, and Domenica Maltauro, he studied at the University of Padua. In 1848 he appeared in the journal ''Astronomische Nachrichten'' connected to an article about the observations of the planet

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

. The presence of the planet was postulated on the basis of the perturbation of the orbit of Uranus by

Le Verrier Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier FRS (FOR) H FRSE (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune usin ...

and was observed for the first time only two years earlier. In 1850-1851 he was nominated assistant in the department of physics and

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

in Padua, and assistant astronomer at the Royal Observatory, under supervision of Professor

Giovanni Santini Giovanni Sante Gaspero Santini (b. Caprese in Tuscany, 30 June 1786; d. Noventa Padovana, 26 June 1877) was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. He received his first instruction from his parental uncle, the Abbot Giovanni Battista Santi ...

in 1853. From 1859 to 1863 he was professor of physics at the faculty of

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and director of the physics department. In the same period he was appointed professor of astronomy in the faculty od

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. He died in the city of Padua, in the Veneto, northern Italy, and was succeeded by Michez Jacopo (1839-1873). His work summarizes 61 articles written in 14 years of study focused on the observation of asteroids, comets, eclipses, the calculation of planetary orbits with respect to the action of the disturbing planets of the solar system and ephemerides.

References

1822 births 1863 deaths People from the Province of Vicenza Discoverers of asteroids 19th-century Italian astronomers {{Italy-astronomer-stub