Struve

Struve, FRIEDRICH GEORG WILHELM, German astronomer, was born at Altona, April 15, 1793, educated at the university of Dorpat (Russia), and appointed to a post in the observatory of that place in 1813. He became director of the Dorpat Observatory in 1817, and in 1839 was placed at the head of the new observatory of Pulkova near St Petersburg. He retired in 1861, and died at St Petersburg on 23d November 1864. He directed his attention principally to the observation of double stars, and collected materials for three important works (1827, 1837, 1852) dealing with this branch of astronomy. He also carried out a number of important geodetic operations, such as the triangulation of Livonia (in 1816-19) and the measurement of an arc of the meridian in the Baltic Provinces (in 1822-27), which was subsequently (1828-56) extended by him, in conjunction with Hansteen (q.v.) and Selander, to the North Cape, and by General Tenner southwards to Ismail in Turkey. For this last gigantic undertaking, see Struve's Arc du Méridien entre le Danube et la Mer Glaciale (St Petersburg, 1857-60).—His son, OTTO WILHELM STRUVE, also an astronomer, was born at Dorpat, May 7, 1819, was educated under his father's direction, became his chief assistant at Pulkova, and the director of the same observatory after his retirement. He has made numerous astronomical discoveries, among which are more than 500 new double stars and (1847) a satellite of Uranus, and has written numerous papers, the most noticeable of which set forth his researches on the rings of Saturn and on the periodic motions of double stars.