Lipót Schulhof (12 March 1847 in Baja – October 1921 in Paris; ; ; ) 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 on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

, born in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, who first worked at the

Vienna Observatory The Vienna Observatory () 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. A new observatory was built betwe ...

and later spent most of his time at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

, observing

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

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 ...

, discovered the main-belt asteroid

147 Protogeneia 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 Greek for "first born" and was chosen by Ka ...

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 (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

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 and others, he advanced the recovery of

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. ...

s as well as those of

lost minor planet Lost or LOST may refer to getting lost, or to: Arts, entertainment, and media Television * ''Lost'' (TV series), a 2004 American drama series about people who become stranded on a mysterious island * ''Lost'' (2001 TV series), a short-lived Ameri ...

s. The main-belt asteroid 2384 Schulhof, discovered by Marguerite Laugier in 1943, was named in his honor.

References

1847 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Austrian astronomers 20th-century French astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Hungarian Jews 19th-century Hungarian astronomers Astronomers from Austria-Hungary Expatriates in France People from Baja, Hungary Recipients of the Lalande Prize {{Europe-astronomer-stub