John Brinkley (astronomer)
From Free net encyclopedia
John Brinkley (1763–September 14, 1835) was the first Royal Astronomer of Ireland and later the Bishop of Cloyne. Brinkley was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk. He died in Dublin, Ireland.
In 1792 John Brinkley became the second Andrews' Professor of Astronomy in the University of Dublin. His main work was on stellar astronomy and he published his Elements of Plane Astronomy in 1808. He was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1824.
Brinkley's observations that several stars shifted their apparent place in the sky in the course of a year were disproved at Greenwich by the Astronomer Royal John Pond.
In 1826 he was appointed Bishop of Cloyne in Cork.
James Brinkley was succeeded at Dunsink Observatory by William Rowan Hamilton.