Heinrich schwabe biography

Schwabe, Samuel Heinrich

(b. Dessau, Germany, 25 October 1789; d. Dessau, 11 April 1875)

astronomy.

Schwabe’s father was a physician, and the family apothecary business was derived from his mother’s family. After working from 1806 to 1809 as an assistant in the business, Schwabe continued his pharmaceutical studies at the University of Berlin in 1810–1812, under Klaproth and Hermbstädt While at Berlin he became interested in astronomy and botany. Schwabe worked as an apothecary from 1812 until 1829, when he sold the business in order to give his time fully to his scientific interests.

On 17 December 1827 Schwabe rediscovered the eccentricity of Saturn’s rings. In 1843 he made his first definite statement regarding the periodicity of sunspots, giving statistics for 1826–1843. He tabulated his results under four headings: the year, the number of groups of sunspots in the year, the number of days free from sunspots, and the number of days when observations were made. Schwabe realized that with the modest apparatus in his private observatory, numerical determination was dif

S. Heinrich Schwabe (1789-1875)





Samuel Heinrich Schwabe was born on 25 October 1789 in Dessau, near Berlin. He began pharmaceutical studies in Berlin, in the course of which he became interested in astronomy and botany. He returned to Dessau in 1812 to take over his family's pharmacy, while pursuing astronomical and botanical researches as an amateur. His first telescope was won at a lottery in 1825, but the following year he ordered a more powerful one through Fraunhofer. Becoming increasingly absorbed his astronomical studies, he sold the family business in 1829. Schwabe died in Dessau on 11 April 1875.

Schwabe observational work was aimed originally at discovering possible intramercurial planets. Starting on October 11 1825, he observed the Sun virtually every day that the weather allowed, and did so continuously for 42 years. In doing so he accumulated volumes of sunspot drawings, the idea being to detect his hypothetical planet as it passed across the solar disk, while avoiding confusion with small sunspots. In 1843 Schwabe still had not discovered any new planet,

Schwabe, Heinrich

Heinrich Schwabe: The Apothecary Who Uncovered the Sun's Secret Rhythm

Heinrich Schwabe, a German apothecary born in 1789, stands as a remarkable testament to the power of dedicated observation. Though he lacked formal astronomical training, his persistent pursuit of a seemingly mundane task – meticulously recording sunspots – led to one of the most significant discoveries in solar physics: the 11-year sunspot cycle.

Schwabe's journey began with a fascination for the Sun. His passion for astronomy, though kindled outside the walls of academia, was fueled by an unwavering dedication to detail and meticulous record-keeping. He started his solar observations in 1826, armed with a simple telescope and a keen eye. Each day, he diligently recorded the presence and appearance of sunspots, meticulously documenting their size, shape, and location on the solar disc.

What initially began as a personal pursuit soon transformed into a scientific endeavor. Schwabe meticulously documented his observations for over two decades, diligently mapping the sun's changing appearanc

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