Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius was born to Abraham
Howelcke and Cordelia Hecker on the 28th of January, 1611. He was born in Danzig Poland which is located
on the Baltic Sea. Hevelius is of German
and Czech descent and grew up speaking mostly German but also learning a bit of
Polish in his community. His name is
often disputed as it has many pronunciations and spellings including Hevel,
Hewel, Hofelius, Hovelius, and many more.
Hevelius is the most commonly used today. He had three brothers and six sisters
although he was the only son in the family to survive to adulthood.
Growing up, Johannes was well off because his father was
a wealthy brewer. When Johannes was six,
his parents sent him to a school named Gymnasium near his hometown. He attended Gymnasium for six years until the
school was closed because the Thirty Years War was going on at the time. Next, Hevelius was sent to a school in
Bromberg. This was challenging for Hevelius
because they spoke Polish there but he quickly picked up the language. During his years of education, Hevelius was
particularly drawn towards math, always having a passion for the subject. He was greatly influenced and inspired by a
math teacher, Peter Kruger, who taught him to make his own observational
instruments. At the age of nineteen,
Hevelius moved to Holland where he began studying law but still found time to
pursue optics and mechanics. After
receiving his law education, he travelled and lived for a short time in London
until 1634 when he was called back to continue the family brewery which his
father could no longer operate due to illness.
Once he returned to Danzig, Hevelius married a woman
named Katharina in 1635 and maintained the brewery. After a few years, he was once again inspired
to pursue astronomy by two successive events.
First, he went to visit his dying math teacher, who had initially
instilled in him his love of astronomy, who once again urged the bright
Hevelius to study his passion. Shortly
after this, Hevelius witnessed a solar eclipse on June 1st, 1639. His dreams of studying astronomy were
rejuvenated and his wife Katharina assisted him in his studies by practically
taking over the brewery to give him time to study and make observations. In 1662, however, his wife Katharina
died. Within a year he married a sixteen
year old, Elizabetha. Elizabetha shared
a passion for astronomy and assisted
him more directly than Katharina in his studies. Hevelius and Elizabetha had three children
together, two sons and a daughter. Only
their daughters survived.
Johannes Hevelius had always hoped to be able to create a
star catalog but found his efforts hindered by the fact that he was lacking
instruments. He began building his own
instruments, most notably his long telescopes utilizing the technology of
refraction. The longest telescope he
created was about 150 feet long. His
self-created observatory was named Sternenburg and was above other people’s
houses. His observations include the
phases of Mercury. He was eventually
successful in creating a star catalog, as he had hoped, including in it 1,564
stars and their positions. The catalog
was named Prodomus Astronomiae. He discovered and named a star of his own,
Mira, located in Cetus. In addition, he
discovered Nova 1670 Cygni. He also
discovered and ovserved comets from his observatory. He used the positions of sunspots throughout
a four year period to almost accurately calculate the solar rotational
period. Although all of these are
notable accomplishments, Hevelius’ most well-known feat was his publication of Selenographia. This is a book of observations spanning ten
years detailing maps of the Moon. It
included both the Moon’s phases and estimates of Lunar mountain heights. Hevelius was the first individual to
calculate the heights of Lunar mountains.
The book included 60 pictures of the Moon containing much detail.
Unfortunately, in 1679 a fire destroyed Hevelius’
observatory. All of his instruments,
printings, and records were lost. The
only thing saved was his star catalog.
Even though Hevelius was 68 at the time of the fire, he rebuilt his
observatory to continue making observations.
Throughout his life, Hevelius made money from both his father’s passed
down brewery and from a pension which he received for his work in
astronomy. He was a member of the Royal
Society, a scientific association, during his lifetime. He died on his birthday
in 1686. After his death, his wife
Elizabetha made sure that his star catalog, nova observations, and
constellation charts were published.
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| Hevelius' 140 Foot Telescope |
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| A Detailed Drawing of the Moon by Hevelius |
Formal Education Group of the Space Telescope Science
Institute's Office of Public Outreach. "Johannes Hevelius." Amazing Space: Telescopes from the
Ground Up. NASA, n.d. Web. 06
Oct. 2012.
O'Connor, J J, and E F Robertson. "Johannes
Hevelius." History.mcs.st-and.ac.uk.
School of Mathematics and
Statistics: University of St Andrews, Scotland, 2008. Web. 06 Oct. 2012.
Kenneth Glyn Jones,
1968. The Search for the Nebulae -- II. Journal of the British Astronomical Association, Vol. 78, No. 5 (1968), p. 360-368.
Section on Hevelius: p. 366. Reprinted in:
The Search for the Nebulae. Chalfont St. Giles, 1975.
Asimov, Isaac. "[171] Hevelius, Johannes." Isaac Asimov's Biographical
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology.
New Revised Edition ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 114-15. Print.
"Hevelius, Johannes." Complete Dictionary of
Scientific Biography. Vol. 6. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 360-364. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
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