Christfried Kirch was a German astronomer and almanac publisher.
Background
He was the son of the astronomers Gottfried Kirch and Maria Margaretha Kirch. Christfried had already participated in the of his father at the age of 12. From 1716 until his death in 1740 he was, like his father, Direktor of the Berlin Observatory, in spite of repeated requests from the Academy of Sciences in Saint St. Petersburg.
Career
His astronomical studies began in Leipzig and Danzig. In 1717 he had received his father"s former post at the Königlich Preußischen Sozietät der Wissenschaften. In 1726 Kirch was made responsible for the Academy"s library together with, who was also at the Observatory at this time.
Up until then, the secretary of the Academy, Johann Theodor Jablonski, was responsible for this activity.
In 1735 the astronomer was taken on as librarian. Christfried Kirch published many articles in several journals.
He described the comet of 1718, observations of sunspots and the surface of Venus and of Jupiter, of occultation of the moons of Jupiter, of variable stars, as well as the Northern Lights and the Earth"s magnetic field In 1730 appeared his greatest work Observationes astronomicae selectiores in observatorio regio Berolinensi habitae, quibus adjectae sunt annotationes quaedam et animadversiones geographicae et chronologicae, aliaque ad astronomicam scientiam pertinentia.
Membership
Prussian Academy of Sciences. Royal Society.