author
Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke
1835–1897
Best remembered for discovering comets and studying star clusters, this 19th-century German astronomer worked at some of Europe’s leading observatories. His name still lives on in astronomy through periodic comet 7P/Pons–Winnecke and the open cluster known as Winnecke 4.
1 Audiobook
Gauss, ein Umriss seines Lebens und Wirkens
by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke
About the author
Born on February 5, 1835, near Hannover, Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke became a German astronomer whose career took him through Göttingen, Berlin, Bonn, and the Pulkovo Observatory near Saint Petersburg. He later returned to Germany and served as a professor of astronomy in Strasbourg.
Winnecke built his reputation through careful observation. He discovered several comets, including the object now called 7P/Pons–Winnecke, and he also identified double stars and deep-sky objects. Among the best known is the open cluster Messier 40, often called Winnecke 4.
He was born into a family connected with astronomy and spent much of his life working in practical observational science. Winnecke died in Bonn on December 3, 1897, but his name remains attached to objects that skywatchers still seek out today.