Karl Rudolph Powalky (19 June 1817 – 11 July 1881) was a German astronomer known for his computational work on estimating cometary paths and minor planets and for his estimation of the solar parallax at 8.83″.
Nothing is known of Powalky's younger days except that he was born in Neudietendorf, Thuringia. He worked at the Hamburg observatory from 1842 to 1847 and worked as a computer for Peter Andreas Hansen from 1850 to 1856. His achievement was in the calculation of the solar parallax of between 8.832″ and 8.86 arcseconds based on observations made during a transit of Venus in 1769[1] resulting in an estimate of the astronomical unit (AU) which is the mean distance of the Sun from the Earth.[2] This agreed with the value of 8.86” deduced by Leon Foucault and led to a debate with Le Verrier.[3] He moved to the United States in 1873 working briefly in the Census Bureau and later at a naval observatory in Washington. Poor health forced him back to German but he returned and moved to Pennsylvania. He was in contact with Asaph Hall who wrote an obituary for Powalky.[4] He is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.).
Referencesedit
^Powalky, C.R. (1864). Neue untersuching des Venusdurchganges von 1769 zur bestimmung der Sonnenparallaxe (in German). Kiel.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Günther (1888). "Powalky, Karl Rudolf". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 26. p. 494.
^Powalky, C. (1868). "Ueber Herrn Le Verrier's Beurtheilung meiner Arbeit über die Sonnenparallaxe". Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 71 (7): 109–112. doi:10.1002/asna.18680710706.
^Hall, A. (1881). "Todes-Anzeige". Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 100 (10): 159–160. doi:10.1002/asna.18811001004.
January 01, 1970
karl, rudolph, powalky, june, 1817, july, 1881, german, astronomer, known, computational, work, estimating, cometary, paths, minor, planets, estimation, solar, parallax, nothing, known, powalky, younger, days, except, that, born, neudietendorf, thuringia, work. Karl Rudolph Powalky 19 June 1817 11 July 1881 was a German astronomer known for his computational work on estimating cometary paths and minor planets and for his estimation of the solar parallax at 8 83 Nothing is known of Powalky s younger days except that he was born in Neudietendorf Thuringia He worked at the Hamburg observatory from 1842 to 1847 and worked as a computer for Peter Andreas Hansen from 1850 to 1856 His achievement was in the calculation of the solar parallax of between 8 832 and 8 86 arcseconds based on observations made during a transit of Venus in 1769 1 resulting in an estimate of the astronomical unit AU which is the mean distance of the Sun from the Earth 2 This agreed with the value of 8 86 deduced by Leon Foucault and led to a debate with Le Verrier 3 He moved to the United States in 1873 working briefly in the Census Bureau and later at a naval observatory in Washington Poor health forced him back to German but he returned and moved to Pennsylvania He was in contact with Asaph Hall who wrote an obituary for Powalky 4 He is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery Washington D C References edit Powalky C R 1864 Neue untersuching des Venusdurchganges von 1769 zur bestimmung der Sonnenparallaxe in German Kiel a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Gunther 1888 Powalky Karl Rudolf Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie in German Vol 26 p 494 Powalky C 1868 Ueber Herrn Le Verrier s Beurtheilung meiner Arbeit uber die Sonnenparallaxe Astronomische Nachrichten in German 71 7 109 112 doi 10 1002 asna 18680710706 Hall A 1881 Todes Anzeige Astronomische Nachrichten in German 100 10 159 160 doi 10 1002 asna 18811001004 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Karl Rudolph Powalky amp oldid 1029764080, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
