John Flamsteed (August 19, 1646 - December 3, 1719)
John Flamsteed was the son of a prosperous merchant in Denby near Derby,
Derbyshire, England. He studied astronomy between 1662 and 1669 on his own
and opposed by his father. He was employed by King Charles II. as Britain's
first Royal Astronomer on March 4, 1675, on the recommendation of Jonas
Moore. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was built for him and he began
observing in 1676, but he had to fund and bring his own instruments. He was
elected to the Royal Society in 1677, where he was a Member of council from
1681-4 and 1698- 1700. In 1684, he was granted living in Burstow in Surrey
by Lord North.
His main work was collecting improved observations and position measurements
for stars, which finally led to the compilation of a large catalogue,
Historia Coelestis Britannica, and an atlas of stars, Atlas
Coelestis. Included in his careful observations were some interesting
discoveries and unrercognized pre-discovery observations:
- On August 16, 1680, Flamsteed possiby observed, but didn't recognize the
significance of the
Cassiopeia A
supernova which possibly occured at that time, and which he cataloged as
"3 Cassiopeiae".
- A prediscovery sighting of Uranus occurred in 1690.
- Flamsteed observed a total of 16 nebulous patches and nebulous stars,
including the original discovery, as nebulous patch, of open cluster
NGC 2244 (12 Monocerotis; Flamsteed's No. 916)
on February 17, 1690, and independent recovery of the previously observed
(by Hodeirna) open clusters
NGC 6530 (No. 2446), the cluster in the
Lagoon Nebula M8 in 1680, and
M41 (No. 965) on February 16, 1702.
While urged by Edmond Halley, Flamsteed refused to
publish his observations for a long time, pointig out that as he had to fund
his instruments, they were his property. Halley obtained the cost for
publication from Prince George of Denmark in 1704, and despite the prince's
death in 1708 and Flamsteed's objections, finally published the
Historia Coelestis Britannica in 1712 on his own in 400 copies. With the
help of Lord Chamberlain, Flamsteed got arranged to be handed over the remaining
about 300 copies in 1715, and burned them. It is this unauthorized publication
where the famous so-called Flamsteed Numbers were assigned to the brighter stars
of each constellation.
Flamsteed's authorized publication occurred only posthumously in 1725, under
the title Stellarum Inerrantium Catalogus Britannicus, with the numbers
removed.
Other notable work of Flamsteed included Lunar theory, optics of telescopes,
and meteorological observations with barometers and thermometers, as well as
longitude determination.
Flamsteed died on December 31, 1719 in Greenwich. His greatest enemy, Halley,
was to succeed him as the second Astronomer Royal.
John Flamsteed biography within the MacTutor History of Mathematics website
John Flamsteed biography and references, Galileo Project at Rice University
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