Aug. 19, 1646: The birth of John Flamsteed

Today in the history of astronomy, the first astronomer royal is born. | Published: August 19, 2026 Though King Charles II called John Flamsteed "our astronomical observer," his position became known as the astronomer royal. Credit: Stephen Craven / St Bartholomew, Burstow: Flamsteed memorial On Aug. 19, 1646, John Flamsteed was born in Derbyshire, England. Though he left school early due to illness and family obligations, he studied astronomy independently and eventually attended Cambridge University. European maritime trade was rapidly expanding during his lifetime, yet sailors still struggled with the longitude problem – north-south distance was easy to calculate while at sea, but east-west was not. Flamsteed was part of a committee that analyzed French astronomer Sieur de St Pierre’s solution to the problem in 1674. Though they found the solution to not be viable, Flamsteed subsequently submitted a report to Royal Society, arguing that England needed a new observatory where a solution to the longitude problem and other astronomical mysteries could be studied. King Charles II founded the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1675 as a result, and appointed Flamsteed the first astronomer royal. The king’s instructions were for Flamsteed to “rectify the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation.” Flamsteed went on to catalog over 3,000 stars; his accuracy was such that some of his designations are still used today. Elisa Neckar is senior production editor of Astronomy magazine, and the editor of the Today in the History of Astronomy feature on Astronomy.com.