Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters


Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters was a German–American university teacher and astronomer at the Litchfield Observatory of Hamilton College, New York, and a pioneer in the study and visual discovery of asteroids. His name is often given as.

Biography

He was born in Koldenbüttel in Schleswig, then part of Denmark but later part of Germany, and later studied under Carl Friedrich Gauss. Peters spoke many languages and gravitated to Italy at the time of the Italian unification. His association with radical groups brought him to the attention of authorities, and he fled to the Ottoman Empire, where he became a government advisor. At the suggestion of the resident U.S. consul, he emigrated to the United States in 1854.
Working at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, he was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 48 of them, beginning with 72 Feronia in 1861 and ending with 287 Nephthys in 1889. Besides asteroids, he co-discovered the periodic comet 80P/Peters–Hartley, and also discovered various nebulae and galaxies.
He was involved in litigation in 1889 with his former assistant Charles A. Borst, and the "Great Star-Catalog Case" Peters v. Borst went before the Supreme Court of New York. The judge sided with Peters, but many astronomers and newspapers sided with Borst. Peters died not long after. Following his death, the judgment was ultimately reversed on appeal and a new trial was ordered, but it never took place. The eminent astronomer Simon Newcomb devotes a chapter in his memoirs to Peters, as an object lesson in how great scientific talent and poor ethical standards may coexist in a single individual.
He died July 18, 1890 in Utica. Historian William Sheehan notes, "Peters was found lying, a half-burned cigar at his fingertips, on the doorstep of the building where he lodged; observing cap on his head, he had fallen in the line of duty, on the way to the observatory the night before."

Honors

Main-belt asteroid 100007 Peters, discovered by Eric Walter Elst at La Silla Observatory in 1988, was named in his memory, based on a suggestion by French amateur astronomer Michel-Alain Combes. The asteroid measures approximately 7.5 kilometers in diameter and belongs to the carbonaceous Alauda family. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 5 January 2015.

List of discovered minor planets

Between 1861 and 1889, C. H. F. Peters discovered 48 asteroids at Litchfield Observatory at Hamilton College, New York, where he enjoyed the title "Litchfield professor of astronomy".
72 Feronia29 May 1861
75 Eurydike22 September 1862
77 Frigga12 November 1862
85 Io19 September 1865
88 Thisbe15 June 1866
92 Undina7 July 1867
98 Ianthe18 April 1868
102 Miriam22 August 1868
109 Felicitas9 October 1869
111 Ate14 August 1870

144 Vibilia3 June 1875
145 Adeona3 June 1875
160 Una20 February 1876
165 Loreley9 August 1876
166 Rhodope15 August 1876
167 Urda28 August 1876
176 Iduna14 October 1877
185 Eunike1 March 1878
188 Menippe18 June 1878
189 Phthia9 September 1878

213 Lilaea16 February 1880
234 Barbara12 August 1883
249 Ilse16 August 1885
259 Aletheia28 June 1886
261 Prymno31 October 1886
264 Libussa22 December 1886
270 Anahita8 October 1887
287 Nephthys25 August 1889