Johann Palisa


Johann Palisa was an Austrian astronomer, born in Troppau, Austrian Silesia, now Czech Republic. He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 122 in all, from 136 Austria in 1874 to 1073 Gellivara in 1923. Some of his notable discoveries include 153 Hilda, 216 Kleopatra, 243 Ida, 253 Mathilde, 324 Bamberga, and the near-Earth asteroid 719 Albert. Palisa made his discoveries without the aid of photography, and he remains the most successful visual asteroid discoverer of all time. He was awarded the Valz Prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 1906. The asteroid 914 Palisana, discovered by Max Wolf in 1919, and the lunar crater Palisa were named in his honour.

Biography

Palisa was born on December 6, 1848 in Troppau in Austrian Silesia. From 1866 to 1870, Palisa studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Vienna; however, he did not graduate until 1884. Despite this, by 1870 he was an assistant at the University's observatory, and a year later gained a position at the observatory in Geneva. A few years later, in 1872, at the age of 24, Palisa became the director of the Austrian Naval Observatory in Pula. While at Pula, he discovered his first asteroid, 136 Austria, on March 18, 1874. Along with this, he discovered twenty-seven minor planets and one comet. During his stay in Pula he used a small six-inch refractor telescope to aid in his research.
Palisa became director of the Pula observatory, with the rank of commander, until 1880. In 1880 Palisa moved to the new Vienna Observatory. While at the observatory he discovered 94 comets by visual means.
In 1883 he joined a French expedition to Caroline Island to observe the Solar eclipse of May 6, 1883. During the expedition, he joined to observations for the search for the hypothetical planet Vulcan, as well as collecting samples of insects for the Vienna Museum of Natural History. In memory of this expedition, he named the asteroid 235 Carolina after Caroline Island.
In 1885, Palisa offered to sell the naming rights of some of the minor planets he discovered, in order to fund his travels to observe the Solar eclipse of August 29, 1886. However he sold just a small number of these naming rights and apparently did not go.
Palisa and Max Wolf worked together to create the first star atlas created by photographic plates, the Palisa–Wolf Sternkarten, published in 1899, 1902, 1908. In 1908, Palisa published the Sternenlexikon, mapping the skies from declinations -1° to +19°. That same year, he became the vice director of the Vienna Observatory. He retired from administrative duties in 1919, but kept observation rights. Palisa continued to discover asteroids until 1923. He died on May 2, 1925.

Discoveries

Between 1874 and 1923 Palisa discovered 122 asteroids ranging from 136 Austria to 1073 Gellivara and the much later numbered Mars-crosser 14309 Defoy, respectively '. He made his discoveries at the Austrian Naval Observatory at Pola and at the Vienna Observatory. He also discovered the parabolic comet C/1879 Q1 in August 1879.
One of his discoveries was 253 Mathilde, a 50-kilometer sized C-type asteroid in the intermediate asteroid belt, which was visited by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft on June 27, 1997. The robotic probe passed within 1200 km of Mathilde at 12:56 UT at 9.93 km/s, returning imaging and other instrument data including over 500 images which covered 60% of Mathilde's surface. Only a small number of minor planets have been visited by spacecraft.
Palisa made all of his asteroid discoveries visually. Even though Max Wolf had revolutionised the process of asteroid discovery by introducing photography in the 1890s, Palisa continued to trust on visual observations. His final discovery, 1073 Gellivara, was the last asteroid that was found visually. Johann Palisa remains the most successful visual asteroid discoverer of all time.
136 Austria18 March 1874
137 Meliboea21 April 1874
140 Siwa13 October 1874
142 Polana28 January 1875
143 Adria23 February 1875
151 Abundantia1 November 1875
153 Hilda2 November 1875
155 Scylla8 November 1875
156 Xanthippe22 November 1875
178 Belisana6 November 1877

208 Lacrimosa21 October 1879
210 Isabella12 November 1879
211 Isolda10 December 1879
212 Medea6 February 1880
214 Aschera29 February 1880
216 Kleopatra10 April 1880
218 Bianca4 September 1880
219 Thusnelda30 September 1880
220 Stephania19 May 1881
221 Eos18 January 1882

236 Honoria26 April 1884
237 Coelestina27 June 1884
239 Adrastea18 August 1884
242 Kriemhild22 September 1884
243 Ida29 September 1884
244 Sita14 October 1884
248 Lameia5 June 1885
250 Bettina3 September 1885
251 Sophia4 October 1885
253 Mathilde12 November 1885

273 Atropos8 March 1888
274 Philagoria3 April 1888
275 Sapientia15 April 1888
276 Adelheid17 April 1888
278 Paulina16 May 1888
279 Thule25 October 1888
280 Philia29 October 1888
281 Lucretia31 October 1888
286 Iclea3 August 1889
290 Bruna20 March 1890

321 Florentina15 October 1891
324 Bamberga25 February 1892
326 Tamara19 March 1892
569 Misa27 July 1905
583 Klotilde31 December 1905
652 Jubilatrix4 November 1907
671 Carnegia21 September 1908
687 Tinette16 August 1909
688 Melanie25 August 1909
689 Zita12 September 1909

728 Leonisis16 February 1912
730 Athanasia10 April 1912
734 Benda11 October 1912
750 Oskar28 April 1913
782 Montefiore18 March 1914
783 Nora18 March 1914
794 Irenaea27 August 1914
795 Fini26 September 1914
803 Picka21 March 1915
827 Wolfiana29 August 1916

1073 Gellivara'''14 September 1923
14309 Defoy22 September 1908

Family

Palisa married his second wife, Anna Benda, in 1902. Asteroid 734 Benda is named after her. He also named minor planets after other members of his family: 320 Katharina after his mother, Katherina, 321 Florentina for his daughter Florentine.
His granddaughter was Gertrud Rheden, wife of astronomer Joseph Rheden. Asteroid 710 Gertrud is named after her.

Honors and awards

In 1876 Palisa was awarded the Lalande Prize.
Palisa was awarded the Valz Prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 1906.
The Phocaea main-belt asteroid 914 Palisana, discovered by Max Wolf in 1919, and the lunar crater Palisa were named in his honour.
Minor planets 902 Probitas, 975 Perseverantia, and 996 Hilaritas that he discovered were given names after his death for traits qualities associated with him: adherence to the highest principles and ideals, perseverance and happy or contented mind. Names were given by Joseph Rheden with the support of Palisa's second wife, Anna.
Minor planet 1152 Pawona is named after both Johann Palisa and Max Wolf, in recognition of their cooperation. The name was proposed by Swedish astronomer Bror Ansgar Asplind. Pawona is a combination of "Palisa" and "Wolf" joined with a Latin feminine suffix.

Obituaries