Astronomer royal is an honorary title for one of the United Kingdom’s outstanding astronomers. Until 1971, the person who held this title also served as director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceux, East Sussex. In 1971, the posts were split and the link between them was severed. The observatory closed as a research institution in 1998.
The astronomer royal for Scotland was, until 1990, the director of the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh and Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. In 1991, the posts were split. The post of astronomer royal for Scotland remained vacant until 1995, when John Campbell Brown, professor of astrophysics at the University of Glasgow, was appointed astronomer royal for Scotland.
