Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

This task, to make “daily observations of the trajectories of planets” needs not be emphasised.
Planets were of course an interesting phenomenon in themselves, but in the work instruction
they are no doubt singled out merely because this was a specialty of Marinoni’s. Hell
published, for his part, all kinds of astronomical observations for years to come in his public
Ephemerides, reserving no particular status to planets as opposed to other phenomena. The
fate of Marinoni’s journals is unknown, and even Hell’s manuscripts of observations – with
the notable exception of some of his diaries from the expedition in Denmark-Norway – have
not been found.
3) The populace (“das Publicum”) is to be urged and invited to make
observations of eclipses, occultations of stars, comets and other unusual astronomical
phenomena by way of announcements in newspapers or posters at the
door. 74
This task points forward to the many “Urania-Sternwarten” (‘Urania observatories’) that were
established, especially in the German-speaking world, beginning more than a hundred years
later. The Urania observatories were institutions established with the specific aim of
disseminating scientific knowledge, and had a much wider outreach than the Imperial
Observatory of Vienna was ever expected to have. 75 “Das Publicum” was obviously a more
narrow concept in Hell’s age, and it should suffice to point to the singular event of the transit
of Venus in 1761. At the day of the event, the Imperial Astronomer retreated to a provisional
site of observation in the library of the Jesuit Collegium, while both the Jesuit observatory and
Hell’s own “public” observatory were crammed with people of the highest circles – the future
Emperor Joseph II among them. 76 It is true, however, that throughout his career Hell did
receive less high-profiled guests at the observatory, foreign diplomats and visiting students
alike, like the travellers Hviid and Münter whom we will meet in a subsequent section of this
essay. In that sense at least, his observatory was a public institution, an integral part of the
‘public space’ of the Austrian capital.
74 Ibid.: “Drittens solle d[a]s Publicum zu denen Observationen der Finsternissen, Sternbedeckungen, Cometen
oder andern ausserordentlichen Astronomischen Erscheinungen durch die öffentlichen oder auf d[a]s Thor
aufgehangene Tabellen vermahnet, und eingeladen werden”.
75 See for example Wolfschmidt 2008 or Molvig 2010.
76 Hell 1761a, pp. 1-20.
- 71 -