John Louis Emil Dreyer (13 February 1852 – 14 September 1926) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

astronomer who spent most of his career working in Ireland. He spent the last decade of his life in

Oxford, England Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

Life

Dreyer was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. His father, Lieutenant General John Christopher Dreyer, was the Danish Minister for War and the Navy. When he was 14 he became interested in astronomy and regularly visited

Hans Schjellerup Hans Carl Frederik Christian Schjellerup (8 February 1827 – 13 November 1887) was a Danish astronomer. He was born at Odense, the son of a jeweller. Initially he was apprenticed as a watch maker, but in 1848 he passed the entrance exam for th ...

at the Copenhagen observatory. He was educated in Copenhagen, taking an MA in 1872. While the same university later awarded him a PhD, in 1874. But in 1874, at the age of 22, he went to Parsonstown,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. There he worked as the assistant of Lord Rosse (the son and successor of the Lord Rosse who built the

Leviathan of Parsonstown Leviathan of Parsonstown, or Rosse six-foot telescope, is a historic reflecting telescope of aperture, which was the largest telescope in the world from 1845 until the construction of the Hooker Telescope in California in 1917. The Rosse six-f ...

telescope). During 1878 he moved to Dunsink, the site of the Trinity College Observatory of Dublin University to work for

Robert Stawell Ball Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1 July 1840 – 25 November 1913) was an Irish astronomer who founded the screw theory. He was Royal Astronomer of Ireland at Dunsink Observatory. Life He was the son of naturalist Robert Ball, and Amelia Gresley Hel ...

. In 1882 he relocated again, this time to

Armagh Observatory Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate. In 2018, Armagh Obs ...

, where he served as Director until his retirement in 1916. In 1885 he became a British citizen. In 1916 he and his wife Kate moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where Dreyer worked on editing the works of

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...

. He won the

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...

in 1916 and served as the society's president from 1923 until 1925. He died on 14 September 1926 in Oxford, where he is buried in

Wolvercote Cemetery Wolvercote Cemetery is a cemetery in the parish of Wolvercote and district of Cutteslowe in Oxford, England. Its main entrance is on Banbury Road and it has a side entrance in Five Mile Drive. It has a funeral chapel, public toilets and a small a ...

. A crater on the far side of the Moon is named after him.

Works

Dreyer compiled the '' New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'', basing it on

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel (; german: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline ...

's Catalogue of Nebulae, as well as two supplementary ''

Index Catalogue The ''New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (abbreviated NGC) is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxies, star clusters an ...

s''. The NGC and IC catalogue designations are still widely used. Dreyer was also a historian of astronomy. In 1890 he published a biography of Danish astronomer

, and in his later years he edited Tycho's publications and unpublished correspondence. These were published in a 15-volume edition, ''Opera Omnia'', the last volume of which was published after his death. His book ''History of the Planetary Systems from Thales to Kepler'' (1905), is currently printed with the title ''A History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler''. He co-edited the first official history of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

along with

Herbert Hall Turner Herbert Hall Turner (13 August 1861 – 20 August 1930) was a British astronomer and seismologist. Biography Herbert Hall Turner was educated at the Leeds Modern School, Clifton College, Bristol and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1884 he ...

, ''History of the Royal Astronomical Society 1820–1920 (1923, reprinted 1987)''.

Arms

References

External links

Biography with picture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyer, John Louis Emil 1852 births 1926 deaths 19th-century Danish astronomers Irish astronomers Irish people of Danish descent Historians of astronomy 19th-century British astronomers 20th-century British astronomers Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery