Founding The idea for a dedicated astronomical society had been discussed for several years before the society's formal founding;
William Pearson is recorded as having proposed one as early as 1812, and
Francis Baily published a recommendation in 1819. By the early nineteenth century, many astronomers felt that the
Royal Society, under the long presidency of the octogenarian
Sir Joseph Banks, was no longer adequately serving their interests; Banks's own expertise lay in botany and natural history rather than the physical sciences. On 12 January 1820, fourteen men met for dinner at the
Freemasons' Tavern in
Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, to discuss the establishment of an astronomical society. Among them were
John Herschel,
Charles Babbage,
Henry Thomas Colebrooke,
Thomas Colby,
Francis Baily and
William Pearson. Its motto, chosen by
William Herschel, is
Quicquid nitet notandum ("whatever shines should be observed"). The society encountered an early setback when its first elected president, the
Duke of Somerset, resigned after only a week, explaining that Banks believed the new body would damage the Royal Society.
William Herschel then agreed to serve as the titular first president, though he never actually took the chair at a meeting due to his advanced age. In 1846 the RAS absorbed the
Spitalfields Mathematical Society, which had been founded in 1717 but was suffering from a decline in membership and dwindling finances. The nineteen remaining members of the mathematical society were given free lifetime membership of the RAS; in exchange, their society's extensive library was donated to the RAS.
Premises The society met in various locations during its early decades, including the rooms of the
Geological Society in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, and subsequently rented rooms from the Medical and Chirurgical Society at 57 Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 1834, the government provided accommodation in
Somerset House, where the society occupied seven (later eight) rooms. The society moved into Burlington House in 1874, holding its first meeting there on 13 November of that year, and has occupied the premises ever since. In total, eleven women were elected fellows in 1916.
Geophysics, which had always been among the interests of the membership, was formally added to the society's scope during the twentieth century. Geophysical papers were initially published in MNRAS, then in a
Geophysical Supplement to MNRAS (1922–1957), before a separate
Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society was launched in 1958. This later merged with two European journals to become
Geophysical Journal International.) is: •
Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society (MmRAS): 1822–1977 •
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS): 1827–present •
Geophysical Supplement to Monthly Notices (MNRAS): 1922–1957 •
Geophysical Journal (GeoJ): 1958–1988 •
Geophysical Journal International (GeoJI): 1989–present (volume numbering continues from GeoJ) •
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (QJRAS): 1960–1996 •
Astronomy & Geophysics (A&G): 1997–present (volume numbering continues from QJRAS) •
RAS Techniques & Instruments (RASTI): 2021–present ==Membership==