Charles II ordered that the first astronomer ' ...to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying of the tables of motion of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for perfecting the art of navigation. Royal Greenwich Observatory was founded in 1675.
| Years |
Astronomer Royal |
Notable Achievements |
| 1675 - 1719 |
Revd John Flamstead (1646 - 1719) |
Catalog of ~3k stars. Proved that the Earth rotates at a uniform rate. Measured the sidereal day of 23hr 56min 4sec and derived tables for the "Equation of Natural Days" or the "Equation of Time". Recorded the positions of the heavenly bodies with great accuracy and this work led eventually to the meridian at Greenwich defining 0 degrees of longitude, where east meets west. Measured the distance from Earth to the Sun. Plotted the paths of comets and gave measurements of the positions of those seen in 1680 and 1682 to Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley, which made their mathematical calculations of the paths of these comets possible. But later in dispute with these two over their publication of his incomplete work. See also Revd James Bradley further below |
| 1720 - 1742 |
Dr Edmund Halley (1656 - 1742) |
Discovering stellar proper motion by comparison with Hipparchus, first to accurately measure the elliptical orbits of comets and to predict the return of one, now called Halley's Comet. |
| 1742 - 1762 |
Revd James Bradley (1673 - 1762) |
Discovered abberration of star light - showed that what Flamsteed had actually measured was the "aberration of light". Corresponded with Isaac Newton to produce a correction table for atmospheric refraction, important when measuring the position of objects near the horizon. |
| 1762 - 1764 |
Revd Nathaniel Bliss (1700 - 1764) |
- |
| 1765 - 1811 |
Nevil Maskelyne (1732 - 1811) |
Founded The Nautical Almanac, 1767 |
| 1811 - 1835 |
John Pond (1767 - 1836) |
1821 introduced method of duplicate observations by direct vision and reflection to obtain results of very high precision. First to not die in office. |
| 1835 - 1881 |
Sir George Biddell Airey (1801 - 1892) |
Promoted exact astronomy and traditional purposes of the Observatory. Wide scope of research encouraged. Last to die in office |
| 1881 - 1910 |
Sir William Henry Mahoney Christie (1845 - 1922) |
Stellar spectroscopic studies, added a 28" telescope to the equipment. |
| 1910 - 1933 |
Sir Frank Watson Dyson KBE (1868 - 1939) |
Proper motion studies, 1919 confirmed Einstein's predicted 'gravitational bending' of light pathsSir Frank able to set in train his major project, the reorganisation of the time-keeping system. Since 1884, the Observatory had kept Greenwich Mean Time for the world, and its prestige was bound up with the accuracy of its time service. He introduced the new and more accurate free- pendulum clock throughout the Observatory. In 1924, at the invitation of the Chairman of the BBC, Sir John Reith, he inaugurated the broadcasting of the famous six "pips" time signal. |
| 1933 - 1955 |
Sir Harold Spencer Jones KBE (1890 - 1960) |
Moved Observatory to Herstmonceaux |
| 1956 - 1971 |
Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley (1906 - 1986) |
Work on globular clusters - the work was and remains the basic 'natural history' of the observed cosmos. |
| 1972 - 1982 |
Professor Sir Martin Ryle (1918 - 1984) |
- |
| 1982 - 1990 |
Professor Sir Francis Graham Smith (1923 - ) |
- |
| 1991 - 1995 |
Professor Sir Arnold Wolfendale (1927 - |
- |
| 1995 - |
Professor Sir Martin Rees (1942 - |
- |