Baron Wilhelm von Biela | |
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| Born | (1782-03-19)March 19, 1782 |
| Died | February 18, 1856(1856-02-18) (aged 73) |
| Known for | Biela's Comet |
BaronWilhelm von Biela (German:Wilhelm Freiherr von Biela; March 19, 1782 – February 18, 1856) was aGerman-Austrian military officer and amateurastronomer.
Wilhelm von Biela was born inRoßla,Harz (NorthernGermany). He was a descendant of a prominent Protestant noble family originally from what is now theCzech Republic, the family having been exiled toSaxony after its head, Friedrich von Biela, was executed inPrague in 1621 during the religious wars of the period.[1] Biela was the last member of his branch of the family.[2]
After study at military college inDresden, Biela joined theAustrian army in 1802, serving as a cadet in the Infantry Regiment 'Graf Stuart' Nr. 18. He rose to the rank of a captain ofGrenadiers and participated in a number of military campaigns againstNapoleon between 1805, 1809 and later on. In 1813 he was anAdjutant to GeneralMerveldt at theBattle of Leipzig, where he was wounded.[3]
In 1815 Biela went to Prague, where he commenced study of astronomy under Martin Alois David.[1] He later served inItaly and was appointed the commandant of the town ofRovigo.[4]
In the field ofastronomy, he specialized in observing and calculating the orbits ofcomets. He also did somesunspot observations and published a series of articles, mostly in theAstronomische Nachrichten, on subjects such as comets, the theoretical considerations of comets "falling into the Sun",Tycho Brahe, and occultations of stars by the Moon.[4] He also published a longer work on planetary rotation,Die zweite grosse Weltenkraft, nebst Ideen über einige Geheimnisse der physischen Astronomie, oder Andeutungen zu einer Theorie der Tangentialkraft (Prague, 1836). In its preface he stated that although the work was the fruit of many years of study, it could be read through in half an hour.
Biela independently discovered two comets that others had already found (notably theGreat Comet of 1823, C/1823 Y1) and made one independent discovery of his own: the periodicBiela's Comet, which subsequently split in two and disintegrated. The lunar craterBiela is named after him.
Relatively little seems to be recorded of Biela's personal life: he was married to Anna (Edle von Wallenstern) and they had a daughter EmilieFreiin von Biela, born in 1820 and married in Rovigo to Moritz, Graf Forgách, another Austrian infantry officer, by whom she had two children.[2][5]
In the 1840s Biela retired toVenice, where he died in 1856.
The minor planet2281 Biela is named in his honor.[6]
Regarding personal names:Freiherr is a former title (translated as'Baron'). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms areFreifrau andFreiin.
Mayerhofer, Josef (1970–1980). "Biela, Wilhelm von".Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 125–126.ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
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