Johannes Hevelius Biography

Johannes Hevelius

    Johannes Hevelius was born to Abraham Howelcke and Cordelia Hecker on the 28^th 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 1^st, 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. 

Hevelius' 140 Foot Telescope

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. Web.