Wilhelmine Sophie Elizabeth Witte (née Böttcher; 17 November 1777[1] – 17 September 1854) was a German amateur astronomer. Böttcher was born in 1777 in Hanover, the daughter of Johanne Sophie Marie, (née Brinkmann; 1755–1824) and of senator Gottfried Ernst Böttcher (1750–1823).[2][3] She married privy councilor Friedrich Christian Witte (1773–1854) on 17 November 1797[4] and they had 14 children, including Minna, Theodor and Friedrich Ernst.

She was interested in astronomy and bought her first telescope in 1815 (a Fraunhofer-Refrakter, the best telescope on the market at that time). She used this with the existing maps of the moon's surface (by Johann Heinrich von Mädler) to develop a terrain model of the moon.[1] Her globe, with a diameter of 34 centimeters, was presented by Mädler at an 1839 congress in Bad Pyrmont and can be seen today at the Historisches Museum Hannover. One year before, she presented a draft version to the astronomer John Herschel.[5] In 1840, she presented the globe to scientists and members of the Prussian royal household. It was afterwards bought by the royal family. In 1844, Witte prepared a new version of the globe which was presented by Herschel to the Society for the Advancement of Science at Cambridge.[6]

In 2006 the IAU named a patera on Venus "Witte Patera" after her in honor of her exploits in mapping the topography of the moon.[5] In 2011, a street in the Kirchrode district of Hanover was named after her.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Samuel Roberts, Wells (1873). The Illustrated Annuals of Phrenology and Physiognomy: For the Years 1865-6-7-8-9-70-1-2 & 3. Complete in One Volume, of Over 500 Pages. S.R. Wells, Publishers. p. 18.
  2. ↑ Dick, Wolfgang R.; Hamel, Jürgen (2005). Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte (8 ed.). Frankfurt/M: Harri Deutsch. ISBN 978-3-8171-1831-1.
  3. ↑ Westermann, G. (1863). Westermann's illustrierte deutsche Monatshefte (13 ed.). Braunschweig: Westermann.
  4. ↑ Deutsches Geschlechterbuch, volume 129, page 114
  5. 1 2 "Amateurastronomin mit Venuskrater Geehrt" (in German). 5 March 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Drucksache Nr. 0426/2011: Straßenbenennungen im Stadtteil Kirchrode" (PDF) (in German). 5 March 2020.
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