''The Observatory'' is a publication, variously described as a journal, a magazine and a review, devoted to astronomy. It appeared regularly starting in 1877, and it is now published every two months. The current editors are
David Stickland
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
,
Bob Argyle and
Steve Fossey.
Although it is not published by the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
, merger =
, merged =
, type = NGO ...
, it publishes the reports of its meetings. Other features are the extensive book reviews and "Here and There", a collection of misprints and ridiculous statements of astronomical interest.
The founder and first editor (1877–1882) was
William Christie, then chief assistant at the
Royal Observatory and later
Astronomer Royal
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 post ...
. Notable subsequent editors include:
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Arthur Eddington (1913–1919)
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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 " ...
(1915–1923)
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Richard van der Riet Woolley
Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley OBE 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 ...
(1933–1939)
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William McCrea (1935–1937)
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Margaret Burbidge
Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, FRS (; 12 August 1919 – 5 April 2020) was a British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist. In the 1950s, she was one of the founders of stellar nucleosynthesis and was first author of the influentia ...
(1948–1951)
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Antony Hewish (1957–1961)
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Donald Lynden-Bell
Donald Lynden-Bell CBE FRS (5 April 1935 – 6 February 2018) was a British theoretical astrophysicist. He was the first to determine that galaxies contain supermassive black holes at their centres, and that such black holes power quasars. ...
(1967–1969)
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Carole Jordan (1968–1973)
*
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...
(1973–1976)
References
Further reading
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External links
Official web site
Science and technology magazines published in the United Kingdom
Astronomy journals
Magazines established in 1877
1877 establishments in the United Kingdom
Royal Astronomical Society
Astronomy magazines
Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom
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