ASTRONOMER

Johann Gottfried Galle

1812 - 1910

Photo of Johann Gottfried Galle

Icon of person Johann Gottfried Galle

Johann Gottfried Galle (9 June 1812 – 10 July 1910) was a German astronomer from Radis, Germany, at the Berlin Observatory who, on 23 September 1846, with the assistance of student Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, was the first person to view the planet Neptune and know what he was looking at. Urbain Le Verrier had predicted the existence and position of Neptune, and sent the coordinates to Galle, asking him to verify. Galle found Neptune in the same night he received Le Verrier's letter, within 1° of the predicted position. The discovery of Neptune is widely regarded as a dramatic validation of celestial mechanics, and is one of the most remarkable moments of 19th-century science. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Johann Gottfried Galle is the 35th most popular astronomer (down from 31st in 2019), the 388th most popular biography from Germany (up from 447th in 2019) and the 6th most popular German Astronomer.

Johann Gottfried Galle is most famous for his discovery of Neptune in 1846.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Johann Gottfried Galle by language

Loading...

Among ASTRONOMERS

Among astronomers, Johann Gottfried Galle ranks 35 out of 644. Before him are Roger Joseph Boscovich, Riccardo Giacconi, Charles Greeley Abbot, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, and Johann Palisa. After him are Sosigenes of Alexandria, William Lassell, Robert Woodrow Wilson, Vesto Slipher, Johannes Hevelius, and Asaph Hall.

Most Popular Astronomers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1812, Johann Gottfried Galle ranks 3. Before him are Charles Dickens, and Kaspar Hauser. After him are Théodore Rousseau, Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Herzen, Louise of Orléans, Truganini, Augustus Pugin, Maria Cristina of Savoy, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, and Amélie of Leuchtenberg. Among people deceased in 1910, Johann Gottfried Galle ranks 15. Before him are Henri Rousseau, Nadar, O. Henry, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Mily Balakirev, and Chulalongkorn. After him are Marius Petipa, Luigi Lucheni, Léon Walras, An Jung-geun, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Pauline Viardot.

Others Born in 1812

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1910

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Germany

Among people born in Germany, Johann Gottfried Galle ranks 388 out of 7,253. Before him are Thomas à Kempis (1380), Moses Mendelssohn (1729), Harald zur Hausen (1936), Heinrich Otto Wieland (1877), Valdemar I of Denmark (1131), and Hugo Boss (1885). After him are Fritz Sauckel (1894), Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776), Lothar Matthäus (1961), Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (1655), Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551), and Samuel Hahnemann (1755).

Others born in Germany

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among ASTRONOMERS In Germany

Among astronomers born in Germany, Johann Gottfried Galle ranks 6. Before him are Johannes Kepler (1571), Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers (1758), William Herschel (1738), Caroline Herschel (1750), and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest (1822). After him are Johann Bayer (1572), Wilhelm Schickard (1592), Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (1793), Walter Baade (1893), Johann Franz Encke (1791), and Max Wolf (1863).

German born Astronomers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous