Heinrich+Wilhelm+Olbers

** Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers **

By: Emilee Flaherty



“Should there really be suns in the whole infinite space, they can be at approximately the same distance from one another, or distributed over galaxies, hence would be in infinite quantities, and consequently the whole sky should be as bright as the sun. Clearly, each line which can conceivably be drawn from our eye will necessarily end on one of the stars and each point on the sky would send us starlight, that is, sunlight.”2 __His Life __ Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers was a German astronomer who was born on October 11, 1758. He was born in [|Arbergen], Germany, where his father was a local minister. From the very beginning of his life, Olbers was greatly enthused by the field of science. Interestingly, Olbers first began his studies as a physician, studying medicine at the [|University of Gottingen] from 1771 to 1780. At this same time, Olbers was also taking classes in the field of mathematics. Supposedly Olbers, upon taking care of a fellow student when he was sick, formulated a way to calculate cometary orbits3. The Baron von Zach helped to publicize Olbers’ calculations. Johann Franz Encke and Galle, two other astronomers, went on to devise second and third editions of Olbers’ method. This method of determining cometary orbits is still widely used today. In 1780, Olbers graduated from Gottingen and relocated to Bremen, Germany. At the young age of twenty-three, he opened up his own practice. Here he went on to practice medicine for forty years4. He retired from his practice in January of 1823.

According to his friends, Olbers was “a doctor who had an immense interest in astronomy4.” Olbers was known not to sleep for more than four hours per night. The majority of his time was spent in his observatory, which was located in the upper level of his house. It was on this rooftop that Olbers made most of his astronomical discoveries. Olbers was especially interested in comets, and he was eventually able to name one of his comets after himself, Olbers’ Comet. His discoveries, in particular about comets, can be researched in depth in the Pulkowa Library6. On June 9, 1811, Olbers was given the honor of participating in the baptism of Napoleon II of France. He then served on the French corps legislature from 1812 to 1813. During his lifetime, Olbers was married twice and had one son who outlived him4. He died on March 2, 1840 at the age of eighty-one in the city of Bremen, Germany. Shortly after his death, a statue of Olbers was built in Bremen, the city where he made so many of his contributions to both the field of medicine and to the field of astronomy.3" __ Beliefs __  Olbers was a proponent of pluralism, the belief that there exist other worlds that contain life other than our Earth. At his time, pluralism was not something common to believe in, especially since there lacked scientific technology to gain an ounce of proof for the theory. Olbers increasingly came to believe that the [|Moon] was the closest astronomical body to the Earth that contained life. More specifically, Olbers believed that not only was there life on the Moon, but that these life forms were intelligent beings, like humans. He wrote that it is “most highly probable that all of infinite space is filled with suns and their retinues of planets and comets.5 __ Contributions to Astronomy __  Even though he spent a great deal of time working as a physician at his own medical practice, Olbers is best known for his contributions to the field of astronomy. His first contribution was in 1779. While he was taking classes in mathematics, he came up with a method for calculating cometary orbits; a method that is still accepted and used today. Olbers became obsessed with trying to find the planet that he believed was located between [|Mars] and [|Jupiter]. He was fascinated with Bode’s Law, which is an empirical rule that gives the approximate distances of the planets from the sun. It was because of this law that Olbers believed that there had to be a planet between Jupiter and Mars. In March of 1802, Olbers discovered [|Pallas], the second known asteroid at the time. He then hypothesized that asteroids were pieces of a medium-sized planet, once located in the asteroid belt, which had been destroyed4. This theory has since been thrown out by the scientific community.

In 1811, Olbers publicized the theory for why the tail of a comet always points away from the Sun. He proposed that it was because of the pressure from the Sun’s radiation. While the theory was not popular in his time, its popularity grew in the twentieth century when scientists were able to show the radiation pressure from light in a laboratory7.

In 1815, Olbers discovered his comet, Olbers’ Comet. He then also went on to discover the asteroid Vesta, as well as four other comets. In 1832, Olbers predicted that the Earth would pass through the tail of Biela’s Comet. This prediction caused chaos and fear in Europe; however, no noticeable effects came out of the passage7.

The one thing that Olbers is most known for is his paradox; appropriately called Olbers’ Paradox. It is also known as the “dark night sky paradox.” Olbers’ Paradox addresses the issue of why the night sky isn’t uniformly as bright as the Sun’s surface. If the universe has an infinite number of stars, then shouldn’t it be as bright as those stars, in our galaxy’s case, the Sun? Olbers’ Paradox is the fact that the night sky is not as bright as the Sun, as it presumably should be8. Some astronomers have attempted to come up with explanations to Olbers’ Paradox.

1. Because of dust, we cannot see distant stars. 2. The Universe only has a finite number of stars. 3. There is not a uniform distribution of stars in the Universe. 4. Because the Universe is expanding, distant stars are red-shifted into obscurity. 5. The Universe is young, so distant light has not yet reached us.9

Astronomers have concluded that the first explanation is wrong, the second and third could be correct but they are not proven, and the fourth and fifth are both correct and both partially responsible for the darkness of the night sky.

media type="youtube" key="0USMjYfkRxs" height="385" width="480" []

​ References

1  [] //2 // Ueber die Durchsichtigkeit des Weltraums, Astronomisches Jahrbuch für das Jahr 1826. J. Bode. Berlin, Späthen 1823. p. 110-121. 3 "Wilhelm Olbers." //NNDB//. Soylent Communications. Web. 22 July 2010. . 4 "Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers Biography." //Astronomy for Kids Online//. Web. 22 July 2010. <http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/heinrich-wilhelm-olbers-biography.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">5 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">"Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm." //The Internet Encyclopedia of Science//. Web. <http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/Olbers.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">6 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">"Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers." //Classic Encyclopedia//. Web. <http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Heinrich_Wilhelm_Matthias_Olbers>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">7 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">"**Wilhelm Olbers**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Jul. 2010 < [] >. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">8 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Chase, Scott I. //Olbers' Paradox//. Web. <http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/GR/olbers.html>. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">9 //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Olbers' Paradox //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">. Web. <http://www.olbersparadox.com/>.