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Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
Astronomer

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel

Famoose for

Measuring the distance to 61 Cygni through stellar parallax.

61 Cygni · Bessel functions

Born
22 July 1784
Birthplace
Minden
Died
17 March 1846

More people

Marie CurieDiscovering polonium and radium.Albert EinsteinDeveloping the theory of relativity.Charles DarwinExplaining evolution through natural selection.

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel was a German astronomer and mathematician known for precision observations and the functions bearing his name.

Early life

Commercial apprenticeship

Left school at fourteen and became interested in navigation while working in Bremen trade.

Career

  1. 1804

    Comet calculations

    Refined calculations for Halley’s Comet.

  2. 1806

    Observatory assistant

    Joined Schröter’s observatory at Lilienthal.

  3. 1810

    Königsberg

    Was appointed observatory director.

Contributions

61 Cygni

Published a reliable parallax measurement establishing a stellar distance.

Bessel functions

Systematically studied functions used in mathematical physics.

Beyond research

Scientific correspondence

Maintained a long correspondence with Carl Friedrich Gauss.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Artistic portrait; Christian Albrecht Jensen. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.