Johann Gottfried Galle Biography – Neptune’s German Astronomer

Personal Information

Not much is known about Johann Gotfried Galle’s personal life. According to the Johann Gottfried Galle biography, he was born in Radis in the Wittenberg district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany on June 9, 1812. He attended the University of Berlin and graduated in 1833. It is known he was married and had at least one son, but little else is known. He died July 10, 1912 in Potsdam, Germany.

Career and Discoveries

After the completion of the Berlin Observatory, Johann Gotfried Galle became an assistant director along side Johann Franz Encke in 1835. On September 23, 1836, Galle received Le Verrier’s calculations of a possible new planet. According to the Johann Gottfried Galle biography, after receiving permission from Encke to use these calculations Johann Gotfried Galle observed a new object for the first time that same night. Over the next two nights Galle confirmed that Neptune was a new planet.

Johann Gotfried Galle spent time studying the rings of Saturn and also suggested a method of measuring the scale of the Solar System which was eventually accepted. He also spent his career studying comets, and during the period of December 2, 1839 to March 6, 1840 discovered three new comets.

In 1851 Galle moved to Breslau and became director of the local observatory and a professor of astronomy. In 1894 with the help of his son Andreas Galle, Johann Gotfried Galle published a list of 414 comets. He remained here until his retirement in 1897.

Honors

• A crater on the Moon was named in his honor
• A crater aka “the happy face” on Mars was named in his honor
• The asteroid 2097 Galle was named in his honor
• One of the rings was Neptune was named in his honor