It follows
that all the observations, as well as the reductions, and, indeed,
all the incidental work of the observatory, had to be carried on by
himself alone. Flamsteed, as we have seen, had, however, many
staunch friends. Sir Jonas Moore in particular at all times rendered
him most valuable assistance, and encouraged him by the warm sympathy
and keen interest which he showed in astronomy. The work of the
first Astronomer Royal was frequently interrupted by recurrent
attacks of the complaints to which we have already referred. He says
himself that "his distempers stick so close that that he cannot
remove them," and he lost much time by prostration from headaches, as
well as from more serious affections.
The year 1678 found him in the full tide of work in his observatory.
He was specially engaged on the problem of the earth's motion, which
he sought to derive from observations of the sun and of Venus. But
this, as well as many other astronomical researches which he
undertook, were only subsidiary to that which he made the main task
of his life, namely, the formation of a catalogue of fixed stars. At
the time when Flamsteed commenced his career, the only available
catalogue of fixed stars was that of Tycho Brahe. This work had been
published at the commencement of the seventeenth century, and it
contained about a thousand stars.
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