Johann Abraham Ihle

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Johann Abraham Ihle
Born14 June 1627
Leipzig
DiedC. 1699
Leipzig
Occupations
  • Postal Clerk
  • Amateur Astronomer
Years activeC. 1665-1695 (Astronomy)
Known forDiscovery of Messier 22

Johann Abraham Ihle (14 June 1627 – c.1699) was a German amateur astronomer from Leipzig.[1]

Biography

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Ihle was born on the 14th of June, 1627, in Leipzig. Ihle would continue to live in the city for the remainder of his life. Professionally, Ihle was a postal clerk. He died either in 1699 or shortly after.

Astronomy

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The Globular Cluster Messier 22

He is most famous for his discovery the first known globular cluster, M22,[2] on 26 August 1665 while observing Saturn in Sagittarius.[3] He observed it with a small refractor telescope. He misidentified it as a nebula, as the true nature of what a globular cluster was would not begin to be understood until Charles Messier's observations of Messier 4 in 1764. He initially described it as "composite nebula between the head and the bow of the archer onto which a great number of faint stars was projected".[4]

Astronomer William Henry Smyth has suggested that a British astronomer named Abraham Hill may be the true discoverer of M22, however this claim has been rejected by astronomers as nothing but speculation on Smyth's part.

He was friends of Gottfried Kirch and Johannes Hevelius. He was also in contact with Erhard Weigel.[5]

He observed sunspots in the 1680s.[6] He is considered a member of the "red list" for sunspot observation, composed of those who collectively constructed a day-by-day record of changes to sunspots in the 1660s, 1670s, and 1680s. Also included in this list are Hevelius, John Flamsteed, and Jonas Moore.[7]

He continued to do astronomy, in close contact with other astronomers he knew, mostly Kirch, until 1695 when he retired at the age of 68.

References

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  1. ^ "Webb Deep-Sky Society: Nebulae and Clusters Section".
  2. ^ Sharp, N. A., M22, NGC6656, REU program/NOAO/AURA/NSF, retrieved 2006-08-16.
  3. ^ Kirch, Gottfried (1682) Annus II. Ephemeridum Motuum Coelestium Ad Annum Aerae Christianae M. DC. LXXXII. … [Second year. Ephemerides of the celestial motions for the year of the Christian era 1682.] Leipzig, (Germany): Heirs of Friedrich Lanckisch. (in Latin) 54 pages. The pages of this book are not numbered. However, in the Appendix, section III. Stella nebulosa prope pedem borealem Ganymedis observata, Lipsia, die 1. Sept. 1681. (III. Nebula near the northern foot of Ganymede observed, Leipzig, 1. September 1681.), first paragraph, Kirch enumerated recently discovered nebulae: " […] & tertia in Sagittaris, quam Dn. Joh. Abrah. Ihle Anno 1665. deprehendit; […] " ([…] and the third [nebula] in Sagittarius, which Mr. Johann Abraham Ihle discovered in the year 1665; […]) Downloadable at: Digitale Sammlungen der Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt (Digital collections of the university- and state library of Sachsen-Anhalt)
  4. ^ "Photos".
  5. ^ "Johann Abraham Ihle | Erhard Weigel (1625–1699)". 10 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Photos".
  7. ^ https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/800/1/42/pdf
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