Joseph Johann von Littrow
![Portrait of Joseph Johann von Littrow (1781–1840) from his 1836 book ''Physische Astronomie'' (Physical Astronomy).](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Joseph_Johann_von_Littrow.jpg)
He became director of the Vienna Observatory in 1819. He served in this position until his death in 1840. He created the only conformal retroazimuthal map projection, which is known as the Littrow projection. Littrow authored the widely read ''Wunder des Himmels'' ("Miracles of the Sky"), which was reprinted eight times by 1897.
Von Littrow is often associated with a proposal to dig a large circular canal in the Sahara desert and fill it with burning kerosene, thus communicating the fact of human intelligence to aliens who may be observing Earth. However, Von Littrow's connection with this scheme may be apocryphal.
The crater Littrow on the Moon is named in his honor.
He is the great-great-great-grandfather of Roman Catholic Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. Provided by Wikipedia
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Published: 1854
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Published: 1830
Superior document: Vorlesungen über Astronomie 2
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Published: 1825
Superior document: Populäre Astronomie 2,1
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Published: 1835
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Published: 1842;, 1842
Links: Volltext
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Published: 1840
Superior document: Geschichte der inductiven Wissenschaften, der Astronomie, Physik, Mechanik, Chemie, Geologie von der frühesten bis zu unserer Zeit 1
Links: Volltext; Umschlagbild