John Flamsteed (August 19, 1646 - December 31, 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 catalog,
Historia Coelestis Britannica
(Flamsteed1725), and an atlas of stars, Atlas
Coelestis (Flamsteed1729).
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 December 1690, cataloged as
"34 Tauri" and recovered by Bode in 1785.
- 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 recoveries of the previously observed
(by Hodeirna)
Lagoon Nebula M8 (No. 2446) in 1680, and
open cluster 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.
A Moon Crater has been named after Flamsteed (4.5S, 44.3W, 20 km diameter, in
1935). Asteroid (4987) Flamsteed was discovered by Bickley, Pearth Observatory,
on March 20, 1980 - provisional designation 1980 FH12; other independent
findings were designated 1983 BV and 1990 DT.
Links
References
- John Flamsteed, 1725.
Historia Coelestis Britannica. Volume 1-3.
H. Meere, London.
[ADS: 1725QB4.F6.........] -
[ADS: 1725hcbt.book.....F]
- John Flamsteed, 1729.
Atlas Coelestis. By the late John Flamsteed.
Edited by Margaret Flamsteed and James Hodgson.
London.
Available Online at the Linda Hall Library, Digital Servies.
Later editions of, and derived from this work during the 18th century,
were edited by Jean Nicolas Fortin (using work of
Nicholas Louis de Lacaille,
Jerôme de Lalande and
Pierre Méchain) and
Johann Elert Bode:
- John Flamsteed, 1753.
Atlas Coelestis. By the late John Flamsteed.
Edited by Margaret Flamsteed and James Hodgson.
London. A reprint of the 1729 edition.
Available Online at
Felice Stoppa's Atlas Coelestis site.
- Jean Nicolas Fortin, 1776.
Atlas Céleste de Flamstéed, approuve par l'Académie
Royale des Sciences, et publié sous le privilege de cette Compagnie.
Seconde Édition.
F.G. Deschamps, Paris.
Available
online at Giangi Caglieris' site. Also
available online at the Linda Hall Library, Digital Servies.
- Johann Elert Bode, 1782.
Vorstellung der Gestirne auf XXXIV Kupfertafeln.
Gottlieb August Lange, Berlin and Stralsund.
Parts of this work are
available
online at the Landessternwarte Heidelberg, Foerderkreis.
- Jean Nicolas Fortin, 1795.
Atlas Céleste de Flamstéed.
Troisième Édition, Revue, corrigée &
augmentée par les Citoyens Lalande & Méchain.
Belin Lamarche, Paris.
Images of the maps of this atlas are
available online
on Henk Bril's site.
- Francis Baily, 1835.
An account of John Flamsteed the first royal astronomer ...
London.
- Francis Baily, 1837.
Supplement to the account of the Rev. John Flamsteed.
London.
- Kenneth Glyn Jones, 1968.
The Search for the Nebulae -- III.
Journal of the British Astronomical Association, Vol. 78, No. 6 (1968),
pp. 446-454. Section on Flamsteed: p. 446-447.
Reprinted in: The Search for the Nebulae. Chalfont St. Giles, 1975.
- Kenneth Glyn Jones, 1991.
Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters. 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press,
p. 321.
- Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, 1827.
Histoire de l'Astronomie au dix-huitièmme siècle
[History of Astronomy in the Eighteenth Century].
Bachelier (Successor of Mme. Ve. Courcier), Paris.
Pp. xxv, 93-116.
- Victor E. Thoren, 1972.
Flamsteed, John.
In: Charles Coulston Gillispie (ed.), 1972.
Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. V, pp. 22-26.
Scribner, New York.
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