Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt

Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt
Photograph of Julius Schmidt standing in a suit. He has no hair, but has a dark beard.
Born(1825-10-25)October 25, 1825
DiedFebruary 7, 1884(1884-02-07) (aged 58)
Occupations
  • Astronomer
  • Geophysicist
  • Selenographer
Parents
  • Carl Friedrich Schmidt
  • Maria Elisabeth Quirling

Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt (25 October 1825 in Eutin, Germany – 7 February 1884 in Athens, Greece) was a German astronomer and geophysicist. He was the director of the National Observatory of Athens in Greece from 1858 to 1884. Julius Schmidt was tireless in his work, it was suggested by William Henry Pickering that he perhaps devoted more of his life than any other man to the study of the Moon. During his lifetime, he made some of the most complete lunar maps of the 19th century.[1]

According to his own analysis, he mapped no less than 32,856 craters, with Mädler mapping 7,735 and Lohrmann 7,177. Schmidt also mapped 348 lunar rilles. In six years, he made almost 57,000 micrometer settings to make 3050 height measurements of the terrain.[1][2]

  1. ^ a b The biographical encyclopedia of astronomers. Katherine Bracher. New York, NY: Springer. 2007. pp. 1026–1027. ISBN 978-0-387-30400-7. OCLC 184930573.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ "The Face of the Moon - Online Exhibit | Linda Hall Library". moon.lindahall.org. Retrieved 2022-04-28.