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Astronomer Royal (horse)
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. The Astronomer Royal works to make observations to improve navigation, cartography, instrument design, and applications of geomagnetism. The position was created with the overall goal of discovering a way to determine longitude at sea when out of sight of land. History 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 "." The first six Astronomer Royals dedicated themselves primarily to this task and focused on astronomical observations that would benefit navigation. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Flamsteed (Gemälde)
John Flamsteed (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, ''Catalogus Britannicus'', and a star atlas called ''Atlas Coelestis'', both published posthumously. He also made the first recorded observations of Uranus, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a star, and he laid the foundation stone for the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Life Flamsteed was born in Denby, Derbyshire, England, the only son of Stephen Flamsteed and his first wife, Mary Spadman. He was educated at the free school of Derby and at Derby School, in St Peter's Churchyard, Derby, near where his father carried on a malting business. At that time, most masters of the school were Puritans. Flamsteed had a solid knowledge of Latin, essential for reading the scientific literature of the day, and a love of history, leaving the school in May 1662.Birks, John L. (1999) ''John Flamsteed, the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmond Halley
Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Halley catalogued the southern celestial hemisphere and recorded a transit of Mercury across the Sun. He realised that a similar transit of Venus could be used to determine the distances between Earth, Venus, and the Sun. Upon his return to England, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society, and with the help of King Charles II, was granted a master's degree from Oxford. Halley encouraged and helped fund the publication of Isaac Newton's influential ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' (1687). From observations Halley made in September 1682, he used Newton's laws of motion to compute the periodicity of Halley's Comet in his 1705 ''Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets''. It was named after him upon its predicted return in 1758, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Van Der Riet Woolley
Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (24 April 1906 – 24 December 1986) was an English astronomer who became the eleventh Astronomer Royal. His mother's maiden name was Van der Riet. Biography Woolley was born in Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, Dorset and attended Allhallows College, then in Honiton, for about 18 months, but then moved with his parents to the Union of South Africa upon their retirement. There he attended and received his degree in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Cape Town. Woolley returned to the United Kingdom and studied for a further MA degree in Mathematics and, later, a PhD at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. After two years at Mount Wilson Observatory he again returned to the United Kingdom in 1931. From 1937 to 1939, he was Senior Assistant Observer and John Couch Adams Astronomer at the Cambridge Observatory. Woolley specialized in solar astronomy a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Spencer Jones
Sir Harold Spencer Jones KBE FRS FRSE PRAS (29 March 1890 – 3 November 1960) was an English astronomer. He became renowned as an authority on positional astronomy and served as the tenth Astronomer Royal for 23 years. Although born "Jones", his surname became "Spencer Jones". Early life Harold Spencer Jones was born in Kensington, London, on 29 March 1890. His father, Henry Charles Jones, was an accountant and his mother, Sarah Ryland, had earlier worked as a school teacher. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, in Hammersmith, West London, from where he obtained a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge. He graduated there in 1911, and was awarded a postgraduate studentship. He subsequently became a Fellow of the college. Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1913–1923 In 1913 he was appointed Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Arthur Eddington to become Plumian Professor of Ast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Watson Dyson
Sir Frank Watson Dyson, KBE, FRS, FRSE (8 January 1868 – 25 May 1939) was an English astronomer and the ninth Astronomer Royal who is remembered today largely for introducing time signals ("pips") from Greenwich, England, and for the role he played in proving Einstein's theory of general relativity. Biography Dyson was born in Measham, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, the son of the Rev Watson Dyson, a Baptist minister, and his wife, Frances Dodwell. The family lived on St John Street in Wirksworth while Frank was one- to three-years-old. They moved to Yorkshire in his youth. There he attended Heath Grammar School, Halifax, and subsequently won scholarships to Bradford Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics and astronomy, being placed Second Wrangler in 1889. In 1894 he joined the Royal Astronomical Society, the British Astronomical Association and was given the post of Senior Assistant at Greenwich Observatory and worked on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William H M Christie
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Liam, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the German given name ''Wilhelm''. Both ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic ''*Wiljahelmaz'', with a direct cognate also in the Old Norse name ''Vilhjalmr'' and a West Germanic borrowing into Medieval Latin ''Willelmus''. The Proto-German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the Earth, a method of solution of two-dimensional problems in solid mechanics and, in his role as Astronomer Royal, establishing Greenwich as the location of the prime meridian. Biography Airy was born at Alnwick, one of a long line of Airys who traced their descent back to a family of the same name residing at Kentmere, in Westmorland, in the 14th century. The branch to which he belonged, having suffered in the English Civil War, moved to Lincolnshire and became farmers. Airy was educated first at elementary schools in Hereford, and afterwards at Colchester Royal Grammar School. An introverted child, Airy gained popularity with his schoolmates through his great skill in the construction of peashooters. From the age of 13, Airy stayed frequ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Biddell Airy 1891
George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States * George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States * George V, King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1910-1936 * George VI, King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1936-1952 * Prince George of Wales * George Papagheorghe also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgio Moroder * George Harrison, an English musician and singer-songwriter Places South Africa * George, Western Cape ** George Airport United States * George, Iowa * George, Missouri * George, Washington * George County, Mississippi * George Air Force Base, a former U.S. Air Force base located in California Characters * George (Peppa Pig), a 2-year-old pig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Pond
John Pond FRS (1767 – 7 September 1836) was a renowned English astronomer who became the sixth Astronomer Royal, serving from 1811 to 1835. Biography Pond was born in London and, although the year of his birth is known, the records indicating the day and month have been lost to posterity. Pond's father made a fortune as a London merchant, enabling young John to enter Trinity College, Cambridge in 1784 at the age of sixteen. He took no degree, however, as his course was being interrupted by severe pulmonary attacks which compelled a long residence abroad. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1794, but his poor health prompted him to withdraw. Work In 1800 Pond settled at Westbury near Bristol, and began to determine star-places with a fine altitude and azimuth circle of in diameter by Edward Troughton. His demonstration in 1806 of a change of form in the Greenwich mural quadrant led to the introduction of astronomical circles at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nevil Maskelyne
Nevil Maskelyne (; 6 October 1732 – 9 February 1811) was the fifth British Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811. He was the first person to scientifically measure the mass of the planet Earth. He created the ''British Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the Meridian of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich'' using Johann Tobias Mayer's corrections for Euler's ''Lunar Theory'' tables. Biography Maskelyne was born in London, the third son of Edmund Maskelyne of Purton in Wiltshire, and his wife, Elizabeth Booth. Maskelyne's father died when he was 12, leaving the family in reduced circumstances. Maskelyne attended Westminster School and was still a pupil there when his mother died in 1748. His interest in astronomy had begun while at Westminster School, shortly after the eclipse of 14 July 1748. Maskelyne entered St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1749, graduating as seventh wrangler in 1754. Ordained as a minister in 1755, he became a fellow o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maskelyne Nevil
Maskelyne may refer to: People * Nevil Maskelyne (MP) (1711–1679), English landowner, MP for Cricklade *Nevil Maskelyne (1732–1811), the fifth British Astronomer Royal *Nevil Story Maskelyne (1823–1911), English geologist, MP for Cricklade * Nevill Maskelyne Smyth (1868–1941), British Army office, recipient of the Victoria Cross * Ryan Maskelyne (born 1999), Australian-born Papua New Guinean Olympic swimmer *The Maskelyne family of British magicians: **John Nevil Maskelyne (1829–1917), stage magician **Nevil Maskelyne (magician) (1863–1924), son of John Nevil **Jasper Maskelyne (1902–1973), stage magician in the 1930s and 1940s, son of Nevil Other uses *Maskelyne, a solitary lunar crater *Maskelynes Islands, in Vanuatu **Maskelynes language Maskelynes (), or Kuliviu (Uliveo), is an Oceanic language spoken on the Maskelyne Islands off south Malekula, Vanuatu. Phonology Consonants * are in free variation as unreleased or unvoiced word-finally or before a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathaniel Bliss
Nathaniel Bliss (28 November 1700 – 2 September 1764) was an English astronomer of the 18th century, serving as Britain's fourth Astronomer Royal between 1762 and 1764. Life Nathaniel Bliss was born in the Cotswolds village of Bisley in Gloucestershire. His father, also named Nathaniel Bliss, was a clothier. Bliss studied at Pembroke College, Oxford. He graduated B.A. in 1720 and M.A. in 1723, and married shortly afterwards. In 1736, Bliss became rector of St Ebbe's Church in Oxford. Supported by, among others; the 2nd Earl of Macclesfield (George Parker), Savilian Professor of Astronomy James Bradley and by William Jones, Bliss succeeded Edmond Halley as Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford University in February 1742 – being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May the same year. As Savilian Professor he lectured courses in arithmetic, algebra, plane and spherical geometry, the use of logarithms and surveying instruments. In 1762 he succeeded James Brad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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