Johann franz encke biography for kids
Biography for 2nd graders!
Johann Franz Encke
Encke studied mathematics and astronomy from 1811 at the University of Göttingen under Carl Friedrich Gauss; but he enlisted in the Hanseatic Legion for the campaign of 1813-1814, and became lieutenant of artillery in the Prussian service in 1815.
Johann franz encke biography for kids
Having returned to Göttingen in 1816, he was at once appointed by Benhardt von Lindenau[?] as his assistant in the observatory of Seeberg near Gotha[?].
There he completed his investigation of the comet of 1680, for which the Cotta prize was awarded to him in 1817; he correctly assigned a period of 71 years to the comet of 1812.
Following a suggestion by Jean-Louis Pons[?], who suspected one of the three comets discovered in 1818 to be the same one already discovered by him in 1805, Encke began to calculate the orbital elements of this planet. At this time, all the known comets only had an orbital period of