Eduard Heis

Eduard Heis (18 February 1806, Cologne – 30 June 1877 in Münster) was a German mathematician and astronomer.

Eduard Heis

He completed his education at the University of Bonn in 1827, then taught mathematics at a school in Cologne. In 1832 he taught at Aachen, and remained there until 1852. He was then appointed by King Frederick William IV to a chair position at the Academy of Münster in 1852. In 1869 he became rector of the Academy.

While at the academy he made a series of observations of the night sky, including the Milky Way, zodiacal light, stars, and shooting stars. These were published in the following works, among others:

• Atlas Coelestis Novus, Cologne, 1872.
• Zodiakal-Beobachtungen.
• Sternschnuppen-Beobachtungen.
• De Magnitudine, 1852.

His star atlas, which was based on Argelander's Uranometria Nova (1843), helped define the constellation borders in the northern sky. His other publications included a treatise on the eclipses during the Peloponnesian war, Halley's comet, and some mathematical text books.

He was also the first person to record a count of the Perseid meteor shower in 1839, giving an hourly rate of 160. Observers have recorded the hourly count every year since that time.