Background

Lorenzo Respighi was born on October 7, 1824, in Cortemaggiore, Piacenza, Italy.

Education

Respighi studied mathematics and natural philosophy, first at Parma and then at the University of Bologna, where he obtained his degree "ad honorem" in 1847.

Career

After taking his degree in mathematics from the University of Bologna, two years later Respighi was appointed a professor of mechanics and hydraulics at the University of Bologna. His first works were purely mathematical, such as the well-known memoir on the principles of differential calculus, which Cauchy presented at the Academy of Sciences in Paris. His interest soon turned to astronomy, and in 1855 he succeeded Calandrelli as director of the astronomical observatory at the University of Bologna. Respighi moved easily from mathematics to observation, and he made an excellent determination of the latitude of the Bologna Observatory. At the same time, he worked on the reductions and discussion of meteorological and magnetic data accumulated by Calandrelli. In 1860 he published an exhaustive study of the comets observed during the years 1814–1843.

In 1865 he was nominated a director of the Astronomic Observatory of the Campidoglio, in Rome. At Calandrelli’s death in 1866, Respighi was appointed a professor of astronomy at the University of Rome and was made the director of the Campidoglio observatory. Here he devoted himself mainly to studying solar phenomena. During a three-year period, he mapped more than 8,000 prominences, and his systematic solar studies continued for more than fifteen years. Especially important are the studies on the spectra of sunspots. He observed the splitting of the absorption lines, which was later explained by Hale as the result of a Zeeman effect of the magnetic field in the sunspots.

Achievements

• Respighi's major achievement was in his successful service during the period from 1855 to 1864 toiling as a director of the Astronomic Observatory of Bologna. Also, during these years he discovered three comets, #1862 IV, #1863 III, and #1863 V.
  
  Respighi was the first to use the objective prism properly for the observation of stellar spectra. On 15 February 1869, he was able to show the French physicist Cornu excellent stellar spectra by placing a 12 prism in front of the equatorial telescope of the Campidoglio observatory.
  
  Moreover, he discovered and practiced new methods to determine the diameter of the sun and the zenith distances of stars. Finally, astronomy owes Respighi a masterly catalog of the absolute declinations of 2534 boreal stars. After Schiaparelli, Respighi was the most prominent Italian astronomer of the nineteenth century.

Works

More photos

• book

  • L'Astronomie Pratique Et les Observatoires en Europe Et en Amérique, Depuis le Milieu du Xviie Siècle Jusqu'à Nos Jours, Vol. 5: Observatoires d'Italie 1878
  • Sulle protuberanze o vulcani del sole lettura 1877
  • Sulle osservazioni spettroscopiche del bordo e delle protuberanze solari fatte all' Osservatorio della Universita' romana sul Campidoglio 1870

Membership

Repighi was a member of several Academies, including the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and a foreign member of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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  Royal Astronomical Society , United Kingdom

Connections

associate:

Marie Cornu

References

• Dictionary of Scientific Biography Volume 11
  1975