Johann Hieronymus Schroeter (1745-1816)
Johann Hieronymus Schroeter was born on 30 August 1745 in Erfurt, Germany.In 1764 he began his studies in Law at Göttigen University,duringwhich he developed an extracurricular interest inmathematics and astronomy. Upon graduation he embarked on a highlevel administrative career that occupied him fully for the following tenyears. Schroeter's astronomical leanings were rekindled via his interest inmusic, which led to his acquaintance with the Herschel family, and with their son William (formerly Wilhelm) in England,who was to become the foremost astronomer of the eighteenth century. Schroeter began his full fledged astronomical life in 1772, uponfounding of his Observatory in the small town of Lilienthal. Financially secured through his appointment as district governorand judge, he carried out planetary and solar observations almostcontinuously for the rest of his life.Many of his telescopes were purchased from William Herschel in England, with whom healso exchanged scientific correspondence.Schroeter's Lilienthal observatory was for a time home to the largest telescope in continental Europe. In 1810 the Napoleonic invasion of Northern Germany brought dire times to Lilienthal, in particular in 1813,when retreating French imperial troops destroyed a good part of the town. Although Schroeter's observatory and instruments were left untouched, helost many of his observational notebooksand unpublished scientific manuscripts,destroyed along with the Lilienthal town hall.Schroeter died in Lilienthal on 29 August 1816.
Schroeter was primarily interested in solar and planetaryastronomy. He was the first, in 1787, to notice and comment upon the solar surface feature now known as granulation (see slide 3 of theHAO slide set). He also gave detailed descriptions of lightbridges over the umbrae of sunspots. He carried out many observationsof Venus and tried to determine its rotation period. His twovolumes on Lunar topography reached levels of detail thatwere to remain for many years unsurpassed.
On 20 September 1800 Schroeter presided over the foundingof the first astronomical society, with members distributed all over Europe. One of the foremost aim of the Society was toorganize a systematic observing program to detect a planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the presence of whichbeing suggested by the Titius-Bode numerical relationship popularized in 1772 by Johann Elert Bode,a friend of Schroeter. By 1807 various members of the society had discovered the four large asteroids Ceres, Pallas, Vesta and Juno.Schroeter's reputation in planetary astronomy was sufficient toattract Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846) to Lilienthal,where he remained for a few years as an assistant.
Bibliography:
Berry, A. 1898, A short history of astronomy, [1961 Doverreprint].
Gerdes, D. (ed.) 1995, Johann Hieronymus Schroeter: Beobachtungen.