John Campbell Brown OBE FRSE (4 February 1947 – 16 November 2019) was a Scottish astronomer who worked primarily in solar physics.

It developed further in 1957 when he saw Comet Arend–Roland through binoculars when aged 10, in the same year that the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory opened and Moore's television series The Sky at Night began.

[1] Brown went on to receive a PhD in solar plasma physics in 1973,[2] with a thesis on hard X-rays from the Sun.

[4] He led the University of Glasgow research group in theory and modelling of solar and stellar plasmas.

[2] He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for his work on solar energetic particles and other contributions to astrophysical research and public outreach.

[8] Brown was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the promotion of astronomy and science education.