Johann Franz Encke

Johann Franz Encke
Johann Franz Encke
Born	(1791-09-23)23 September 1791 Hamburg, Holy Roman Empire
Died	26 August 1865(1865-08-26) (aged 73) Spandau (now part of Berlin), Province of Brandenburg
Nationality	German
Alma mater	University of Göttingen
Known for	12P/Pons-Brooks comet
Awards	Cotta prize (1817) Royal Medal (1828) Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1824, 1830)
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	University of Berlin
Academic advisors	Carl Friedrich Gauss
Doctoral students	Johann Gottfried Galle Leopold Kronecker Demetrios Kokkidis

Johann Franz Encke (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːhan ˈfʁants ˈɛŋkə]; 23 September 1791 – 26 August 1865) was a German astronomer. Among his activities, he worked on the calculation of the periods of comets and asteroids, measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and made observations of the planet Saturn.