Royal Observatory, Greenwich

The original site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), which was built as a workplace for the Astronomer Royal, was on a hill in Greenwich Park in Greenwich, London, overlooking the River Thames. The Prime Meridian, to which longitude refers, went through the observatory. It is marked by a brass strip in the courtyard and, since December 16, 1999, a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky. Royal Observatory, Greenwich Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Royal Observatory, Greenwich Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. ... One of the Royal Parks of London, Greenwich Park is a former deer-park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south east London. ... Greenwich (pronounced gren-itch , or by the locals) is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, on the south bank of the river Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ... The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Length 346 km Elevation of the source 110 m Average discharge entering Oxford: 17. ... The Prime Meridian, Greenwich The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of longitude) passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Greenwich, England; it is the meridian at which longitude is 0 degrees. ... Map of Earth showing curved lines of longitude Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Laser (US Air Force) A LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an optical device which uses a quantum mechanical effect called stimulated emission (discovered by Einstein while researching the photoelectric effect) in order to generate a coherent beam of light from a lasing medium of controlled purity...

The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II. Flamsteed House (1675-76), the original part of the Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the first purpose-built scientific research facility in Britain. Events January 5 - The Battle of Turckeim August 10 - Building of the Royal Greenwich Observatory began November 11 - Guru Gobind Singh becomes the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs. ... Charles II (29 May 1630–6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... Christopher Wren by Godfrey Kneller, 1711. ...

The last time that all departments of the RGO were at Greenwich was before World War II. Many departments were evacuated along with the rest of London to the countryside (Abinger, Bradford, and Bath) in 1939. After the War, in 1947, the decision was made to move to Herstmonceux Castle and 320 adjacent acres (1.3 km²) (70 km south-southeast of Greenwich near Hailsham in East Sussex) due to light pollution in London. Although the Astronomer Royal moved to the castle in 1948, the scientific staff could not move until the completion of new observatory buildings in 1957. Shortly thereafter, other far flung departments were reintegrated at Herstmonceux. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, one of the Home Counties. ... Location within the British Isles Bradford is the major settlement in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, in the north of England in the county of West Yorkshire. ... Palladian Pulteney Bridge and the weir at Bath Bath is a city in south-west England, most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Herstmonceux Castle Herstmonceux is a village in the county of East Sussex in the South East of England. ... Location within the British Isles Hailsham is a town in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. ... East Sussex is a county in South East England. ... Light pollution (also known as photopollution, luminous pollution) is excess or obtrusive light created by humans. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Former Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux East Sussex

The Isaac Newton Telescope was built there in 1967, but was moved to Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in Spain's Canary Islands in 1979. In 1990 the RGO moved again, to Cambridge. Following a decision of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, it closed in 1998. Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office was transferred to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory after the closure. Other work went to the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. The castle now houses the International Study Centre of Queen's University, Kingston, Canada and the Observatory Science Centre. Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux. ... Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux. ... The INT dome by moonlight The Isaac Newton Telescope or INT is a 2. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The seeing statistics for Roque de los Muchachos Observatory make it the third best location for optical and infrared astronomy after Dome C, Antarctica and Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. ... Capitals Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Santa Cruz de Tenerife Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 13th  7 447 km²  1,5% Population  â€“ Total (2003)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked 8th  1 843 755  4,4%  247,58/km² Demonym  â€“ English  â€“ Spanish  Canary Islander (Canarian)  canario/a Statute of Autonomy August 16... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... PPARC is an abbreviation for the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, and is the UKs strategic science investment agency based in Swindon. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The HM Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), now part of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, was established in 1832 on the site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, where the Nautical Almanac had been published since 1767. ... The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) at the Chilton/Harwell Science Campus is a UK scientific research laboratory near Didcot in Oxfordshire. ... Edinburghs location in Scotland Edinburgh viewed from Arthurs Seat. ... Queens University, or simply Queens, is a coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Lake Ontario. ...

Greenwich Mean Time was at one time based on the time observations made at Greenwich, before being superseded by Coordinated Universal Time. While Greenwich no longer hosts a working astronomical observatory, it remains a centre of excellence for modern astronomy. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich near London in England, which by convention is at 0 degrees geographic longitude. ... Coordinated Universal Time or UTC, also sometimes referred to as Zulu time, is an atomic realization of Universal Time(UT) or Greenwich Mean Time, the astronomical basis for civil time. ...

A time ball still drops daily to mark the exact moment of 1pm (13:00) - this was installed by Astronomer Royal John Pond in 1833. There is a good museum of astronomical and navigational tools, notably including John Harrison's prize-winning longitude chronometer, H4. In February 2005 construction work began on a £15 million redevelopment project which will provide a new planetarium and additional display galleries and educational facilities. The timeball at Greenwich is shown in the top right of picture A time ball is a large sphere, visible to shipping that drops at a set time to allow the ships to set their Chronometer, so that they are able to find their longitude. ... John Pond (c. ... 1833 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... For the recipients of the Victoria Cross, see either John Harrison (VC 1857) or John Harrison (VC 1917) See also the author M. John Harrison; John Harrison Mayor of North Tyneside John Harrison. ... A chronometer is a clock designed to have sufficient long-term accuracy that it can be used as a portable time standard on a vehicle, usually in order to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. ...

Chronology

• 1675 Royal Observatory founded.
• 1924 Hourly time signals (Greenwich Time Signal) from the Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast on February 5.
• 1948 Astronomer Royal moves to Herstmonceux.
• 1957 Royal Observatory completes its move to Herstmonceux, becoming the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO). The Greenwich site becomes the Old Royal Observatory.
• 1990 RGO moves to Cambridge.
• 1998 RGO closes. Greenwich site becomes the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and is part of the National Maritime Museum.

Events January 5 - The Battle of Turckeim August 10 - Building of the Royal Greenwich Observatory began November 11 - Guru Gobind Singh becomes the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Greenwich Time Signal or BBC pips is a time code heard on some BBC radio programmes at the start of the hour, most notably on Radio 4 and the World Service. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom, and one of the most important in the world. ...

Further reading

• Greenwich Observatory: ... the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and Herstmonceux, 1675-1975. London: Taylor & Francis, 1975 3v. (Vol. 1. Origins and early history (1675-1835), by Eric G. Forbes. ISBN 0-8506-6093-9; Vol. 2. Recent history (1836-1975), by A.J. Meadows. ISBN 0-8506-6094-7; Vol. 3. The buildings and instruments by Derek Howse. ISBN 0-8506-6095-5)

External links

• HM Nautical Almanac Office
• The Royal Observatory, Greenwich
• The National Maritime Museum
• The RGO at Herstmonceux
• The Observatory Science Centre
• Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes