Galle, Johann Gottfried

Johann Gottfried Galle, (born June 9, 1812, near Gräfenhainichen, Prussian Saxony—died July 10, 1910, Potsdam, Ger.), German astronomer who on Sept. 23, 1846, was the first to observe the planet Neptune.

Galle joined the staff of the Berlin Observatory, where he served as assistant director under J.F. Encke from 1835 until 1851. He studied the rings of Saturn and suggested a method, later successful, of measuring the scale of the solar system by observing the parallax of asteroids. He looked for Neptune at the request of the French astronomer U.-J.-J. Le Verrier, who had computed the planet’s probable position before it was seen. From 1851 until 1897 Galle was director of the Breslau Observatory.