John Flamsteed

John Flamsteed ( born August 19, 1646 Denby, † December 31, 1719 in Greenwich ) was an English astronomer and from 1675 the first royal astronomer ( Astronomer Royal ) of the British Royal Family.

Life

John Flamsteed was the only son of the merchant Stephen Flamsteed and his first wife Mary Spadman made ​​in Denby in Derbyshire to the world. Although he was a theologian, was his real interest in astronomy. In the self-study, he brought with him to calculate eclipses and planetary positions. Some way moved some of these calculations in the hands of the astronomer and mathematician Immanuel Halton (1628-1699), who was impressed by the skills of the young talent. Even Lord Brouncker, the then President of the Royal Society, found out about it and there was an exchange of letters with various scholars in London, which included Henry Oldenburg, John Collins and William Molyneux.

At the age of 23 years, not even Flamsteed then made ​​her way to get to know the men of the Royal Society in person. And when Charles II was looking for a Astronomer Royal, Flamsteed was suggested to him. On March 4, 1675, he was by royal decree on The King's Astronomical Observer, the " astronomical observer of the King" appointed and was the first Astronomer Royal ( "Royal Astronomer "). Court astronomer Flamsteed received a pension of 100 pounds a year.

In Flamsteed's proposal led in 1675 a further royal decree the creation of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, for the Flamsteed in August laid the foundation stone. In February 1676 he became a member of the Royal Society, and in July he moved to the observatory, where he lived until he was appointed in 1684 as pastor of the parish of Burstow in Surrey. This profession and the Astronomer Royal he held until his death in 1719. 1720, he was buried in Burstow.

Flamsteed is also known for his conflict with Isaac Newton, who was then President of the Royal Society. Newton tried some of Flamsteed's observations to steal and pretend to be his own, which also succeeded with the help of a royal edict; Newton prompted the publication of the observations of Flamsteed. Then he released her, without mentioning Flamsteed as the discoverer. Years later succeeded Flamsteed, the repurchase most copies of published books, and he finally burned publicly in front of the Royal Observatory.

In honor of the lunar crater Flamsteed Flamsteed was named after him.

Scientific Work

Flamsteed began his career with an important treatise on the determination of the equation of time.

He collected data from approximately 2,800 visible stars of Britain, which he watched with mostly homemade instruments and devised a system to its systematic naming with the so-called Flamsteed numbers, which is still used today. This system first appeared in his Historia coelestis Britannica, published in 1712 by Newton, but without authorization by Flamsteed. After Flamsteed's death appeared in 1725 an amended by Edmond Halley another edition of Historia and 1729 Atlas coelestis.

In 1666 and 1668 Flamsteed calculated eclipses predicted precisely. He made the first fixed -held observation of the planet Uranus, which he, however, held for a star and recorded as 34 Tauri in his star catalog.