Names of J.H.Schroter

Names of Johann Hieronymus Schröter

Additional information to Appendix H (page 218) in Ewen A. Whitaker's Mapping and Naming the Moon
Research: Danny Caes and Jim Mosher

Table of Contents

[#Names of Johann Hieronymus Schröter Names of Johann Hieronymus Schröter]

[#Official nomenclature Official nomenclature]

[#Discontinued nomenclature Discontinued nomenclature]

[#Johann Schröter in Sky and Telescope Johann Schröter in Sky and Telescope]

Johann Schröter contributed to the lunar nomenclature both by introducing names for previously unnamed features, and by identifying in his detailed drawings what he felt were the identities of some of the formations designated by existing names. Not all of his new names were adopted by later observers, nor does later usage always conform to Schröter's. David Brewster's supplement to Ferguson's Astronomy (1811) includes what appears to be a complete list of the new names introduced by Schröter and Brewster's understanding of the features Schröter intended to designate.

Official nomenclature

(Names in the current IAU database introduced by Johann Schröter)
 
 A
 

• Alhazen
• Arnold
• Azout (Auzout)

B

• Bailly
• Bernoulli (Bernouilli)
• Bianchini
• Boscowich (Boscovich)
• Mons Brayley
• Briggs (first used by Van Langren)

C

• J.D.Cassini (first used by Allard)
• Condorcet

D

• de Fontenelle (Fontenelle)
• de la Caille (la Caille)
• de la Condamine (la Condamine)
• de la Hire (la Hire)
• de l'Isle (Delisle) (not to be confused with Lamech's de l'Isle!)
• Doppelmayer

E

• Eimmart
• Euler

F
(none)
G

• Gartner
• Godin

H

• Mons Hadley
• Hase
• Hausen
• Heinsius
• Hell
• Hermann
• Hooke
• Horrebow
• Mons Huygens (Huygens first used by Van Langren)

I
(none)
J
(none)
K

• Kastner
• Kies
• Kirch (in E.A.Whitaker's list as Mons Kirch, which is an error)
• Kraft (Krafft)

L

• le Gentil
• Lexell
• Lichtenberg
• Louville
• Lubinietzky (Lubiniezky)

M

• Mairan
• Maraldi
• Maupertuis
• C.Mayer (Christian Mayer)
• T.Mayer (Tobias Mayer)
• Mercator
• Mont Blanc (Mons Blanc)

N

• Neper (first used by Van Langren)
• Newton

O
(none)
P

• Palitsch (Palitzch)
• Picard
• Mons Pico
• Pingré

Q
(none)
R

• Romer
• Montes Rook
• Rost (first used by Hell)

S

• Scharpius (Sharp) (first used by Hell)
• Segner
• Short
• Silberschlag
• Street

T

• Taquet (Tacquet) (first used by Van Langren)

U
(none)
V

• Vitello

W

• Wargentin
• Weigel
• Wilson
• Mons Wolff (Wolff first used by Hell)
• Wurzelbauer

X
(none)
Y
(none)
Z
(none)

Discontinued nomenclature

(the following names are not part of the current IAU nomenclature)
 
 

• J.J.Cassini (near the moon's north pole)
• Montes d'Alembert (near Mare Orientale)
• de Ulloa (plate T. LXXIII) (name first used by Van Langren as Ulloae for the crater which is nowadays officially known as Taylor).
  • The formation de Ulloa is limbward of Schröter's "Thales", which in turn appears to be the modern Strabo.
  • Schröter's "de Ulloa" is most likely Antonio de Ulloa (1716–1795) who participated in the French expedition to Ecuador to measure the length of an arc of the terrestrial meridian.
  • Van Langren's "Ulloae" might possibly be Francisco de Ulloa an earlier Spanish explorer.
• Profund. Desplaces (plate T. LXIII)
  • According to Schroter's drawing it should be south of Grimaldi, on the west-southwestern limb. A crater in the libration zone?
  • Possibly the French astronomer and scientific writer Phillippe Desplaces (1659-1736), author of ephemerides?
• Montes Doerfel (at the moon's southwestern limb) (name still printed on modern moonmaps)
• Feronce (plate T. LXIII)
• Montes Leibnitz (near the south pole) (name still printed on modern moonmaps)
• Malvasia (location known, see Schluter) (note that Schröter's related map is depicted in the LPOD History of an Eastern Name) (see Figure 2 in Schroter's drawings). Malvasia was probably Cornelio Malvasia, Marquis di Bismantova. - DannyCaes DannyCaes Jul 12, 2014
• Fr. Christ. Mayer (plate T. TLXI)
  • This name evidently honors a different person from Christian Mayer, since both names appear on the same plate. Although Christian Mayer's name is frequently written "Fr. Christian Mayer" in English language texts ("Fr." being an abbreviation for "Father"), Schröter's text is German, so "Fr. Christ." is presumably an abbreviation for "Franz Christian", "Friedrich Christian", or some such name. The person remains unidentified, although the proximity to Christian Mayer suggests it might be a relative. Schröter's illustration of this area is also unusually ambiguous, and differs in a number of important respects from the actual appearance of the features, so without reading the text of Volume 2 it is quite uncertain which features he is naming with either Christian Mayer or Fr. Christ. Mayer. - JimMosher JimMosher
• Christl. Mylius (plate T. LXIII)
  • The name is likely a reference to Christlob Mylius (1722-1754) who is said to have written a treatise on the Moon's atmosphere (German Wikipedia). A memoir of Mylius was published by Kästner (another of Schröter's honorees). Mylius' work was also apparently known of and quoted by Daniel Bernoulli, although the IAU seems to think the latter person was not Schröter's Bernoulli.
• Rob. Smith (plate T. LV)
  • A very well defined 72 km crater to the southwest of Tycho, extending from the modern Tycho D to Brown D and centered at 15.2°W, 45.4°S. It is drawn, but not named, in the System of Lunar Craters. The reference is presumably to Robert Smith (1689-1768), author of a famous book on Optics (1738).
• Vinc. Wing (plate T. LV)
  • A somewhat vaguely-defined depression at 16.4°W, 41.3°S, about 55 km in diameter, extending from the modern Wilhelm D to Heinsius M. Vincent Wing (1619-1668) was a self-taught English astronomer known for his many publications, including the founding of an almanac continued for more than a century. Flamsteed reportedly regarded Wing's Ephemerides as the best available at the time. His most noted work was a a complete system of astronomy, Astronomia Britannica (1652, 2nd ed. 1669).

Johann Schröter in Sky and Telescope

• February 1955 (14,4) 140
• February 1957 (16,4) 167
• February 1965 (29,2) 92
• October 1968 (36,4) 230
• July 1996 (92,1) 98-100