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To Do List

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  • Create sections
    • Introduction
    • history
    • Astronomer Royals
    • References in other works
  • Find more sources

Response to Peer Review

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Impressions: the new layout was intended to flow much better and be simpler for a reader to follow. I will keep this version of the layout now since I know that others think the same.

Lead: As I continue doing my research then I will add more general information to introduce the Astronomer Royal and the work they have done.

Content: I am currently in the process of doing research on some of the notable discoveries that Astronomer Royal's have made. Once I finish I will add paragraphs that will simply explain the discoveries.

Sources: The paragraphs that I have added do have a citation after each sentence however the existing article is lacking many citations or just has citations for the whole paragraph lumped together at the end. I have started the process of finding sources for the existing article and properly citing each statement.

Organization: I agree with the second paragraph of the introduction being more history than a general description. I will work on moving the more historical information to the history section. I created a new section for notable discoveries and will work on adding information.

I will work on distinguishing how the President of the Royal Society and the Astronomer royal are difference. I will also try to find information about what specific work they actually did since the charter is very vague.

Introduction

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Astronomer royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the astronomer royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the astronomer royal for Scotland dating from 1834. Astronomer Royal worked to make observations to improve navigation, cartography, instrument design and applications of geomagnetism[1]

The astronomer royal was director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich from the establishment of the post in 1675 until 1972. The astronomer royal became an honorary title in 1972 without executive responsibilities, and a separate post of director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory was created to manage the institution.[2][3]

The position was created with the intent to improve navigation at sea by using the stars as reference points[4]. The first six Astronomer Royals dedicated themselves to this task and focused only on astronomical observations that would benefit navigation[4].

History of the Astronomer Royal

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The post was created by King Charles II in 1675, at the same time as he founded the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. He appointed John Flamsteed, instructing him "forthwith to apply himself withthe most exact care and diligence to the rectifying the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so-much desired longitude of places, for the perfecting the art of navigation."[5][6][2]

The origin of the title Astronomer Royal is unknown. [7] Although John Flamsteed is widely considered the first Astronomer Royal, he was never appointed with the the title and only referred to in the Warrant to Ordinance as "Our Astronomical Observer"[7]. Similar language was used to appoint all the Astronomer Royals until 1881 with William Christie's appointment. The term Astronomer Royal did not become commonly used until the late 18th Century while the Royal Warrants still used "Our Astronomical Observer"[7] Other titles such as Royal Professor at Greenwich were also used is less formal documents during this time. [7]

In 1703, Isaac Newton was elected President of the Royal Society and was upset about the lack of publications with the lack of publications coming from the Greenwich Observatory under Flamsteed. [8] This eventually led to Queen Anne's Warrant of 1710 where members of the Royal Society was appointed as the Board of Visitors to the Royal Observatory to oversee Flamsteed. [7] The original Board of Visitors consisted entirely of associates and allies of Newton which enraged Flamesteed[8].

In 1765, the Board of Longitude decided that the Astronomer Royal's observations were property of the Crown and must be printed and published each year. [9] John Pond and subsequent Astronomer Royals elected to their findings publish quarterly instead[6].

Sir George Airy transformed the the position from its original purpose of improving navigation to conducting more general astronomical and scientific research[10]. With approval from the Board of Visitors in 1836, airy created a Magnetic and Meteorological Department in the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Twenty-seven years later in 1873 he created the Solar Photography Department[10].

Originally, the Astronomer Royal had one assistant, but increased to six during John Pond's appointment as Astronomer Royal[6]. The astronomer royal today receives a stipend of 100 GBP per year and is a member of the royal household, under the general authority of the Lord Chamberlain. After the separation of the two offices, the position of astronomer royal has been largely honorary, although the holder remains available to advise the Sovereign on astronomical and related scientific matters,[11] and the office is of great prestige.

There was formerly a royal astronomer of Ireland who was also the Andrew's Professor of Astronomy at the University of Dublin[12]. Both became vacant in 1921 with Irish Independence but a new Andrew's Professor of Astronomy was appointed in 1985[12].

Astronomers Royal

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1. John Flamsteed 1675 1719 [13][14]
2. Edmond Halley 1720 1742 [13][14]
3. James Bradley 1742 1762 [13][14]
4. Nathaniel Bliss 1762 1764 [13][14]
5. Nevil Maskelyne 1765 1811 [13][14]
6. John Pond 1811 1835 [13][14]
7. Sir George Biddell Airy 1835 1881 [15][14]
8. Sir William Christie 1881 1910 [15][14]
9. Sir Frank Dyson 1910 1933 [15][14]
10. Sir Harold Spencer Jones 1933 1955 [15][14]
11. Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley 1956 1971 [15][14]
12. Sir Martin Ryle 1972 1982 [15][14]
13. Sir Francis Graham-Smith 1982 1990 [14]
14. Sir Arnold Wolfendale 1991 1995 [14]
15. Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow 1995 Incumbent [14]

Notable Discoveries Works of Astronomer Royals

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John Flamsteed is responsible for a few important discoveries including proving his theory of annual stellar parallax and the discovery of Uranus even though he thought it was a star. In 1694 he was able to gather evidence of the stellar parallax and was the first person to prove that the earth rotates around the sun. His observations of stellar parallax where accurate to between one to two arcseconds.[16] However, his biggest contribution to the royal observatory and later Astronomer Royals was his high standard of work.

Six years after the death of Flamsteed, Historia Coelestis Britannica published containing much of the data and theories he had spent his life working on both before and after his appointment as Astronomer Royal[17]. It contains accurate tables of lunar motion, planetary motion, and detailed stellar catalogues of 2935 stars[17]. This publication made the Astronomer Royal and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich internationally renown for precise observation[8].

Edmund Halley, was determined to find a way to find longitude at sea without sight of land[9]. Starting in 1725, Halley while serving Astronomer Royal and a Commissioner of the Board of Longitude made very detailed and precise observations of the moon[9]. From these observations he was able to show that longitude could be calculated using the moon in 1731[9]. Although the error is his calculations was about 69 miles at the equator, it was more accurate then any other methods until the marine chronometer for finding longitude[9].

In 1833, John Pond published his catalog of 1113 different stars[13]. The catalog contained more stars recorded to a much higher degree of accuracy than any other publication at the time and impressed many other astronomers across Europe[18].

Frank Dyson, the ninth Astronomer Royal determine latitude variation caused by irregular movement of Earth's magnetic poles[19]. He used a telescope floating in mercury and was able to detect when the poles of the earth wobbled any distance greater than one foot[19]. During the 1919 eclipse, Dyson was instrumental in designing an experiment to test Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity[20]. Starting months before the eclipse stars, were photographed and carefully charted, and during the total eclipse the same stars would be photographed and charted[20]. If Einstein's theory was correct then the light from the selected stars would be bent passing around the sun and show more deflection than Newtonian theory could account for[20]. When the photograph's from the eclipse were developed it became clear that Einstein's theory had accurately predicted the position of stars. This was one of the first experiments done to test general relativity[20].

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The astronomer royal is mentioned in H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds and in George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London.[21] He also makes an appearance in the lyrics of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance[22] and plays an important role in Fred Hoyle's novel The Black Cloud[23].

References

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  1. ^ Higgitt, Rebekah (2013-09-12). "Astronomers Royal, scientific advice and engineering". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  2. ^ a b McCrea, William Hunter (1975). Royal Greenwich Observatory : an Historical Review Issued on the Occasion of its Tercentenary. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Bibcode:1975rgo..book.....M.
  3. ^ Meadows, A. J. (1975). Greenwich Observatory, volume 2: Recent History (1836–1975). London: Taylor & Francis. Bibcode:1975gosb.book.....F.
  4. ^ a b Forbes, Eric Gray (1975). Greenwich observatory. London: Taylor and Francis. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-85066-093-7.
  5. ^ F Baily, "An Account of the Rev. John Flamsteed", reprinted in vol. 28, at p. 293. "The Museum of foreign literature, science and art", R Walsh et al., publ. E Litell, 1836.
  6. ^ a b c Forbes, Eric G. (1975). Greenwich Observatory, volume 1: Origins and Early History (1675–1835). London: Taylor & Francis. p. 176. Bibcode:1975gosb.book.....F.
  7. ^ a b c d e Lovell, Bernard (1994). "The Royal Society, the Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Astronomer Royal". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 48 (2): 283–297. ISSN 0035-9149.
  8. ^ a b c Ronan, Colin (1969). Astronomers Royal. New York: Doubleday and Company. pp. 43–44.
  9. ^ a b c d e Ronan, Colin (1969). Astronomers Royal. New York: Doubleday and Company. pp. 44-45.
  10. ^ a b Maunder, E. Walter (1900). The Royal Observatory Greenwich. London, England: The Religious Tract Society. pp. 113–114.
  11. ^ "Astronomer Royal". The British Monarchy. Royal Household. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  12. ^ a b Wayman, P.A. (March 1986). "The Andrews Professors of Astronomy and Dunsink Observatory, 1785-1985". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Forbes, Eric G. (1975). Greenwich Observatory, volume 1: Origins and Early History (1675–1835). London: Taylor & Francis. p. 175. Bibcode:1975gosb.book.....F.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Astronomer Royal". The British Monarchy. Royal Household. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Meadows, A. J. (1975). Greenwich Observatory, volume 2: Recent History (1836–1975). London: Taylor & Francis. Bibcode:1975gosb.book.....F.
  16. ^ Forbes, Eric Gray (1975). Greenwich observatory. London: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0-85066-093-7.
  17. ^ a b Schaffer, S. (1982). "The Preface to John Flamsteed's Historia Coelestis Britannica (Book): Annals of Science". Annals of Science. 41 (4): 409 – via EBSCO.
  18. ^ Ronan, Colin (1969). Astronomers Royal. New York: Doubleday and Company. pp. 129.
  19. ^ a b Wilson, Margaret (1951). Ninth Astronomer Royal. Cambridge, England: W.Heffer and Sons Limited. pp. 162–163.
  20. ^ a b c d Wilson, Margaret (1951). Ninth Astronomer Royal. Cambridge, England: W.Heffer and Sons Limited. pp. 191–193.
  21. ^ p. 175, Penguin edition
  22. ^ "The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan". The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive.
  23. ^ Burchell, Tania (February 8, 2020). "The Black Cloud: Scientists in Science Fiction" (PDF). National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
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