X-Nico

11 unusual facts about Astronomer Royal


Anna Airy

Airy was born in Greenwich, London, daughter of engineer Wilfrid Airy and Anna née Listing, and granddaughter of Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy.

Bedstone

Famous former pupils include the present Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, now Baron Ludlow, and explorer and TV presenter Monty Halls.

Cassiopeia A

Astronomer William Ashworth and others have suggested that the Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed may have inadvertently observed the supernova on August 16, 1680, when he catalogued a star near its position.

James MacLellan Brown

Later Brown collaborated with Professor Ralph Allen Sampson, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, in designing Mills Observatory, a much more modern building than the one originally planned before the war.

Kielder Observatory

The observatory was officially opened on the 25 April 2008 by Sir Arnold Wolfendale 14th Astronomer Royal.

Lunatic

The term lunatic was also used by supporters of John Harrison and his marine chronometer method of determining longitude to refer to proponents of the Method of Lunar Distances, advanced by Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne.

Meldreth

A stone marker was erected near the western end of Fenny Lane, and unveiled in December 1999 by the Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees.

Observatory Inlet

Vancouver also named three headlands at the entrance of Observatory Inlet: Maskelyne Point, for Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, Wales Point, for William Wales, the mathematical master who sailed with James Cook, and Ramsden Point, after the famed mathematical instrument-maker Jesse Ramsden.

Samuel Rowbotham

His lectures continued and concerned citizens addressed letters to the Astronomer Royal seeking rebuttals for his claims.

Solar Saros 133

The period separating each of the 72 eclipses in the series is approximately 6585.3 days (18 years, 11 days); that period was first called a saros by astronomer Edmond Halley.

Western Australia border

This expedition, to determine 129° east on the ground, created world-wide scientific interest and involved the cooperation of the Astronomer Royal and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, with wireless time signals sent by the French wireless Service, that were transmitted from the Lyons astronomical observatory (Observatoire de Lyon) at Saint-Genis-Laval, near Lyons, France, between 17 and 24 November 1920.


Andrew Ure

Whilst in residence he was visited by Sir William Herschel, the Astronomer Royal, who gave some lectures to the local Astronomical Society and helped him to install a fourteen-foot reflecting telescope of his own Ure's design and manufacture.

Dawes Point, New South Wales

This was later changed to Point Maskelyne in honour of Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne, British Astronomer Royal.

Thomas Mercer Chronometers

It was bought by Astronomer Royal Frank Dyson for the Greenwich Observatory.

United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Zero Meridian

When the first Ordnance Survey map was published in 1801, the official Prime Meridian of Great Britain was the one established by the third Astronomer Royal, James Bradley.

University of London Observatory

The Observatory was opened on 8 October 1929 by the then Astronomer Royal Frank Watson Dyson, initially to house the 24-inch reflector from Dr W.E. Wilson's observatory at Daramona, Ireland, which was donated to the University of London after his death.