Simon Marius

Simon Marius
Simon Marius

Simon Marius
Born January 10, 1573(1573-01-10)
Gunzenhausen
Died December 26, 1624(1624-12-26) (aged 51)
Residence Ansbach
Nationality German
Fields Astronomy
Known for Jupiter, Andromeda Galaxy

Simon Marius (Latinized from German Simon Mayr) (January 10, 1573 – December 26, 1624) was a German astronomer. He was born in Gunzenhausen, near Nuremberg, but he spent most of his life in the city of Ansbach.

In 1614 Marius published his work Mundus Iovialis describing the planet Jupiter and its moons. Here he claimed to have discovered the planet's four major moons some days before Galileo Galilei. This led to a dispute with Galileo, who showed that Marius provided only one observation as early as Galileo's, and it matched Galileo's diagram for the same date, as published in 1610. It is considered possible that Marius discovered the moons independently, but at least some days later than Galileo.

Regardless of priority, the mythological names by which these satellites are known today (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) are those given them by Marius:[1]

Io, Europa, Ganimedes puer, atque Calisto
lascivo nimium perplacuere Iovi.
Io, Europa, the boy Ganymede, and Callisto greatly pleased lustful Jupiter.

Simon Marius also observed the Andromeda "nebula", which had also been known to Arab astronomers of the Middle Ages. Discussion of Marius's work is scarce, but what exists tends to note his skill as an observer, including:

  • That in 1612 he measured the diameter of the Andromeda nebula and discerned it as having a dull, pale light which increased in brightness toward its center,[2] like "a candle shining through horn".[3]
  • That he detected the spurious disks of stars created by his telescope.[4]
  • That, from his observations of the Jovian moons he derived better periods of revolution and other orbital elements for them than did Galileo.[5]
  • That he observed the location of Tycho Brahe's supernova of 1572 and found a star there which he estimated to be "somewhat dimmer than Jupiter's third moon."[6]

Marius drew conclusions about the structure of the universe from his observations of the Jovian moons and the stellar disks. The stellar disks he observed were spurious (likely the Airy disk caused by diffraction, as stars are too distant for their physical disks to be detected telescopically), but Marius interpreted them to be physical disks, like the planetary disks visible through a telescope. He concluded that since he could see stellar disks, the stars could not be as distant as was required in the Copernican world system, and he said that the appearance of the stars as seen through a telescope actually argued against Copernicus.[7] He also concluded from his observations of the Jovian moons that they must orbit Jupiter while Jupiter orbits the sun.[8] Therefore, Marius concluded that the geocentric Tychonic system, in which the planets circle the sun while the sun circles the Earth, must be the correct world system, or model of the universe.[9]

Work

  • Mundus Iovialis anno MDCIX Detectus Ope Perspicilli Belgici (Die Welt des Jupiter, 1609 mit dem flämischen Teleskop entdeckt; Lateinisches Faksimile und deutsche Übersetzung; Hrsg. und bearb. von Joachim Schlör. Naturwiss. begleitet und mit einem Nachw. vers. von Alois Wilder), 1614
  • Zinner, E., "Zur Ehrenrettung des Simon Marius", in: Vierteljahresschrift der Astronomischen Gesellschaft, 77. Jahrgang, 1. Heft, Leipzig 1942
  • Bosscha, J., "Simon Marius. Réhabilitation d´un astronome calomnié", in: Archives Nederlandaises des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles, Ser. II, T. XII, S. 258 - 307, 490 - 528, La Haye, 1907

References

  1. ^ Marius/Schlör, Mundus Iovialis, p. 78 f. (with misprint In for Io)
  2. ^ Bond, George P,"An Account of the Nebula in Andromeda",Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, New Series, volume 3, 1848 pg. 75-76.
  3. ^ Watson, Fred, Stargazer: The Life and Times of the Telescope, Da Capo Press, 2005, pg. 86.
  4. ^ Dreyer, JLE,"The Tercentenary of the Telescope",Nature,vol. 82 (December 16, 1909), pg. 190-191
  5. ^ Pannekoek, Anton, A History of Astronomy, Interscience Publishers, 1989, pg. 231.
  6. ^ Waldrop, M. Mitchell,"Supernova 1987 A: Facts and Fancies",Science,New Series, Vol. 239, No. 4839 (Jan. 29, 1988), pp. 460-462
  7. ^ Marius/Schlör, Mundus Iovialis, pg. 46-49.
  8. ^ Marius, Simon (tr. by A.O. Prickard), "The Mundus Jovialis of Simon Marius", The Observatory (astronomy), vol. 39, 1916, pg. 404, 408, 409
  9. ^ Marius/Schlör, Mundus Iovialis, pg. 46-49.

External links


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  • Simon Marius — (latinisierte Form von Simon Mayr, * 10. Januar 1573 in Gunzenhausen, Bayern; † 26. Dezember 1624 in Ansbach (julianischer Kalender)) war ein deutscher Mathematiker, Astronom und Arzt. Simon Marius aus Mundus Iovialis Fast zeitgleich mit Galileo… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Simon Marius — Simon Marius, en allemand Simon Mayr (10 janvier 1573 à Gunzenhausen 26 décembre 1624 à Ansbach), est un astronome allemand, auquel on doit le nom des quatre principaux satellites de Jupiter, dites lunes galiléennes …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Simon Marius — (10 de enero de 1573 – 26 de diciembre de 1624) fue un astrónomo alemán. Nació en Gunzenhausen aunque pasó la mayor parte de su vida en la ciudad de Ansbach. En 1614 Marius publicó una obra titulada Mundus Iovialis en la que describía el sistema… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Simon Marius — Para otros usos de este término, véase Mario. El astrónomo Simon Marius. Simon Marius (10 de enero de 1573 – 26 de diciembre de 1624) fue un astrónomo alemán. Nació en Gunzenhausen aunque pasó la mayor parte de su vida en la ciudad de Ansba …   Wikipedia Español

  • Marius — ist ein männlicher Vorname und Familienname. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Herkunft und Bedeutung 2 Namenstag 3 Bekannte Namensträger 3.1 Name in der Antike …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Marius (crater) — Coordinates 11°54′N …   Wikipedia

  • Simon — (Variante: Simeon) ist ein männlicher Vorname. Die weibliche Form lautet Simone. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Herkunft und Bedeutung des Namens 2 Namenstag 3 Varianten 3.1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Marius — hace referencia a: Marius Petipa, bailarín y coreógrafo francés; Simon Marius, astrónomo alemán; Marius Jacob, anarquista ilegalista francés. Esta página de desambiguación cataloga artículos relacionados con el mismo título …   Wikipedia Español

  • Simon Mayr — ist der Name folgender Personen: Simon Mayr (1573–1624), deutscher Astronom und Mathematiker, siehe Simon Marius Simon Mayr (Baumeister) (1779–1870), österreichischer Baumeister und Maler Siehe auch: Johann Simon Mayr (1763–1845), deutscher… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Simon Mayer — may be an alternate spelling of:* Simon Marius (1573–1624), German astronomer * Johann Simon Mayr (1763 1845), German composer …   Wikipedia

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