Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke (5 February 1835 in Groß-Heere, near Hannover – 3 December 1897 in Bonn) was a German astronomer.
Winnecke worked at Pulkovo Observatory near Saint Petersburg from 1858 to 1865, but returned to Germany and served as professor of astronomy in Strasbourg from 1872 to 1881.[1]
He discovered or co-discovered a large number of comets, including the periodic comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke and the comet once known as "Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes" but later renamed to 27P/Crommelin after Andrew Crommelin, who computed its orbit.
Winnecke also compiled a list of double stars, the Winnecke Catalogue of Double Stars, in 1869. He also found a number of nebulae.
The asteroid 207 Hedda, discovered by Johann Palisa in 1879, was named after Winnecke's wife Hedwig.
References edit
- ^ Frommert, Hartmut; Kronberg, Christine. "Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke (February 5, 1835 - December 3, 1897)". THE MESSIER CATALOG. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Retrieved 6 October 2012.