Galle, Johann Gottfried

Galle, Johann Gottfried (yō`hän gôt`frēt gä`lə), 1812–1910, German astronomer. He is noted for his discovery of the planet Neptune, Sept. 23, 1846, by following the guidance of calculations by Leverrier. Galle was then a member of the staff of the Berlin Observatory and had discovered three comets. In 1851 he became professor of astronomy at Breslau and director of the observatory there. His particular field of research was meteorology.