Johann von Lamont
|
|
Johann von Lamont (December 13,1805 – August 6,1879) was a Scottish-German astronomer and physicist.
He was born in Scotland and moved to Ratisbon, Germany in 1817 to study at the local seminary. He began to work in Astronomy and joined the Bogenhausen Observatory, became its director in 1835 and a professor of astronomy in 1852 at Munich University.
His most important work was on the magnetism of the Earth. He performed magnetic surveys in Germany, France, Spain, and Denmark. He discovered a magnetic decennial period, and the electric current in the Earth closing the electric "circuit" creating the magnetic field in 1850.
He calculated the orbits of the moons of Uranus and Saturn, obtaining the first value for Uranus' mass. By chance he observed Neptune in 1845 and twice in 1846, but did not recognize the object as being a new planet.
A crater on Mars was named in his honor.
External links
Obituaries
- MNRAS 40 (1880) 208 (http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/MNRAS/0040//0000208.000.html)
- Obs 3 (1879) 155 (http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/Obs../0003//0000155.000.html)de:Johann von Lamont