Origins & Early Life

Johann Gottfried Galle (9 June 1812 – 10 July 1910) was a German astronomer from Radis, Germany, at the Berlin Observatory who, on 23 September 1846, with the assistance of student Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, was the first person to view and identify the planet Neptune. Urbain Le Verrier had predicted the existence and position of Neptune, and sent the coordinates to Galle, asking him to verify. Galle found Neptune in the same night he received Le Verrier's letter, within 1° of the predicted position. The discovery of Neptune is widely regarded as a dramatic validation of celestial mechanics, and is one of the most remarkable moments of 19th-century science.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Galle was born in the Papsthaus (a house in the Pabst wood) 2 km west of Radis in the vicinity of the town of Gräfenhainichen, as the first son of Marie Henriette née Pannier (1790–1839) and Johann Gottfried Galle (1790–1853), an operator of a tar oven. He attended the Gymnasium in Wittenberg and studied at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin from 1830 to 1833. He became a teacher at the Gymnasium in Guben, teaching mathematics and physics. Later on, he transferred to the Gymnasium in Berlin.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

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