Joseph Johann Littrow
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| Joseph von Littrow | |
 Portrait of Joseph Johann von Littrow from his 1836 book Physische Astronomie (Physical Astronomy).
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| Born | March 13, 1781 Horšovský Týn, Bohemia |
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| Died | November 30, 1840 (aged 59) Vienna, Austria |
| Residence |  Bohemia Austria |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Fields | Astronomer |
| Institutions | Krakau University Kazan University Vienna Observatory Buda Observatory University of Vienna |
| Alma mater | Charles University |
| Doctoral students | Nikolai Brashman Ivan Simonov |
| Known for | Littrow projection |
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Notes
Note that he was the father of Karl L. Littrow. |
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Joseph Johann von Littrow (March 13, 1781 – November 30, 1840) was an Austrian astronomer born of an aristocratic family. In 1837, he was ennobled with the title Joseph Johann Edler von Littrow. He was the father of Karl Ludwig Edler von Littrow and the mentor of the mathematician Nikolai Brashman[1]. His work took him to Russia for a time, which is where his son who succeeded him was born.
He became director of the Vienna Observatory in 1819. He served in this position until his death in until 1840. He created the only conformal retroazimuthal map projection, which is known as the Littrow projection.
Von Littrow is often associated with a proposal to dig a large circular canal in the Sahara desert and fill it with burning kerosene, thus communicating the fact of human intelligence to aliens who may be observing earth. However, Von Littrow's connection with this scheme may be apocryphal [2].
The Litrow crater on the Moon was named in his honour.
[edit] Timeline
- 1799 Entered Charles University
- 1802 Graduated in jurisprudence and theology
- 1803 Became the private tutor of count J. Renard in Silesia
- 1807 Appointed professor of astronomy Krakau University
- 1810 Established the observatory at Kazan University
- 1816 Became co-director of the observatory at Ofen (Buda)
- 1819 Appointed professor of astronomy at the University of Vienna and became director of the first university observatory Vienna, which he reorganized completely
[edit] References
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Littrow, Joseph Johann |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Littrow, Joseph von |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Austrian Astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 13, 1781 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Horšovský Týn, Bohemia |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 30, 1840 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Vienna, Austria |
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