John Flamsteed

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Antonio Gasparoni

Astronomy

Percival, Period 3

14 September, 2012

John Flamsteed

John Flamsteed is a well-known astronomer from the 1600’s and was born in Denby, England on August 19^th 1646 and died on December 31^st, 1719. His father’s name was Stephan Flamsteed and his mother’s name was Mary, who died when he was an infant. When John Flamsteed was being admitted to Jesus College in England, complications arose with his health. He became ill and couldn’t attend the college. He helped in his father’s shop and that is where he learned how to use fractions and learned arithmetic. He then gained a fascination in math, and more notably astronomy. His interest in Astronomy eventually led to what he would be most famous for.

John Flamsteed is most known for collecting improved observations and position measurements for stars. Published after his death, was his large compilation of celestial observations over the course of two books. Historia Coelestis Britannica was the title of the first one which was published in 1725, and then Atlas Coelestis which was published in 1729. Flamsteed had observed countless stars along with some celestial objects that he could not identify. In fact, in his book Historia Coelestis Britannicahe includes documentation on over 3000 stars and celestial objects. It is believed he witnessed a super nova, not knowing what it was, on August 16^th, 1680. This has now been identified as “Casseopeia A”. He documented this as being called “3 Cassiopeiae”. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he thought it was important enough to document. He also had observed around 16 nebulous patches and nebulous stars in his life time. One of which was an original discovery by him the open star cluster of NGC 2244.

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An acquaintance of Flamsteed, Edmond Halley, insisted that Flamsteed publish his work, but Flamsteed never did while he was alive. His book Historia Coelestis Britannica was published while he was alive in 1712; however it was unauthorized and was later published with authority, as said before, in 1725.

In 1675 Flamsteed asked King Charles II to build him a Royal Observatory. Being that Flamsteed made a barometer and thermometer for King Charles II the year before, how could the King refuse? King Charles II built the first ever Royal Observatory for John Flamsteed in Greenwich, England in 1676. John Flamsteed became the first ever “Royal Astronomer”. He had an entire observatory for himself now, rather than using just telescopes at home to observe stars. He could now carry his work much farther and could discover new mysteries. Being the first Royal Astronomer was not the only interesting thing that he did after he obtained his observatory, he also invented the “conical projection”. A conical projection is a sphere which is produced onto a two dimensional plane. This made it easier to map out the Earth on paper.

John Flamsteed is an astounding astronomer and will not be forgotten easily. He is most duly noted for his time spent as the first Royal Astronomer, having the Greenwich Observatory built for him, and for his two large celestial object books which were overflowing with information on stars and their distances from Earth. He could be said to be one of the greatest astronomers of all time and was a life-long rival with Edmond Halley, who Halley’s Comet is named after.

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Works Cited

Gillispie, Charles Coulston. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Scribner, 2008. Print.

Frommert, Hartmut. "John Flamsteed." John Flamsteed. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St. Andrews. "John Flamsteed." Flamsteed Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

Britannica. "John Flamsteed (British Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.