Who commissioned the Royal Observatory?
"the present-day Maritime Museum, was the birthplace of both Henry VIII and his daughters Mary I and Elizabeth I; the Tudors used Greenwich Castle, which stood on the hilltop that the Observatory presently occupies, as a hunting lodge. Greenwich Castle was reportedly a favourite place for Henry VIII to house his mistresses, so that he could easily travel from the Palace to see them. The establishment of a Royal Observatory was proposed in 1674 by Sir Jonas Moore who, in his role as Surveyor General at the Ordnance Office, persuaded King Charles II to create the observatory, with John Flamsteed"
"Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post was created by King Charles II in 1675, at the same time as he founded the Royal Observatory Greenwich. He appointed John Flamsteed, instructing him ""."" The Astronomer Royal was director of the Royal Observatory Greenwich from the establishment of the post in 1675 until 1972. The Astronomer Royal became an honorary title in 1972 without"
"Castle Hill, where her enterprise eventually became today's Camera Obscura on the Royal Mile. In 1812 the observatory was handed over to the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, which opened its popular observatory in the Gothic Tower. In 1818 work began on the Playfair Building. Designed by William Henry Playfair this was to become the scientific observatory of the Institution. Following a loyal address to George IV in 1822 this became the Royal Observatory. Again the funds proved insufficient, so that the purchase of instruments and the employment of an observer depended on funding from the Government. After much delay the instrumentation"
"King's Observatory The King's Observatory (called for many years the Kew Observatory) is a Grade I listed building in Richmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed an astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatory founded by King George III. The architect was Sir William Chambers; his design of the King's Observatory influenced the architecture of two Irish observatories – Armagh Observatory and Dunsink Observatory near Dublin. The observatory and its grounds are located within the grounds of the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club, which is part of the Old Deer Park of the former Richmond Palace in Richmond, historically in Surrey"
"granted the title of Royal Observatory. With Government grants and after much delay in procuring instruments it was only in 1834 that Thomas Henderson was appointed the first observer. This was now the Government-funded position of Astronomer Royal for Scotland. The incumbent would also be Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. Henderson died in 1844 and in 1846 Charles Piazzi Smyth was appointed as his successor. Due to the deteriorating finances of the Institution it was forced to hand over its property to the Government in 1847. The Royal Observatory continued on Calton Hill. After Piazzi Smyth's"
"Royal Observatory of Madrid The Royal Observatory of Madrid is a historic observatory situated on a small hill next to the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain. It was completed in 1790 and took over some of the work previously done by the naval observatory on the south coast. It is the seat of the Spanish National Astronomical Observatory and the Observatorio Geofísico Central, both administered by the National Geographic Institute (via its department of ""Astronomía, Geofísica y Aplicaciones Espaciales""). The observatory was designed by Juan de Villanueva, architect to Charles III of Spain, It represents one of the highlights"
"to the family Windmills. Importantly, those Huguenots who worked for him in the sphere of decorative arts were able to execute Tompion's demands for the high quality workmanship on which he founded his unrivalled reputation. Tompion was an early member of the Clockmakers' Company of London — he joined in 1671 and became a master in 1704. When the Royal Observatory was established in 1676, King Charles II selected Tompion to create two identical clocks based on Hooke's idea of a very long pendulum swinging in a very small arc. These were fixed in the Octagon room, each was driven"
"king, an enthusiast for watches and mechanical devices, was patron of Justin Vulliamy, but only Benjamin received this significant honour. Around 1780, Vulliamy was commissioned to build the Regulator Clock, the main timekeeper of the King's Observatory Kew, which served as an unofficial Prime Meridian and was responsible for the official London time until 1884, when the Greenwich Royal Observatory assumed both roles. The Regulator Clock is now in the Science Museum in London. In 1780 Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy was born; he was the last Vulliamy to dedicate himself to the family clockmaking business. None of his descendants took up"
"Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the observatory forms a part of the Green Templeton College of the University of Oxford. The observatory was founded and named after John Radcliffe by the Radcliffe Trustees. It was built on the suggestion of the astronomer Thomas Hornsby, who was occupying the Savilian Chair of Astronomy, following his observation of the notable transit of Venus across the sun's disc"
"Royal Observatory of Belgium The Royal Observatory of Belgium (; ), has been situated in Uccle (Ukkel in Dutch) since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in 1826 by William I under the impulse of Adolphe Quetelet. It was home to a 100 cm diameter aperture Zeiss reflector in the first half of the 20th century, one of the largest telescopes in the world at the time. It owns a variety of other astronomical instruments, such as astrographs, as well as a range of seismograph equipment (for detecting earthquakes). Its main activities are: The asteroid 1276 Ucclia is named"
"The observatory is now a part of the University. Trivandrum Observatory The Trivandrum Observatory or Thiruvananthapuram Astronomical Observatory is a scientific and astronomical observation station that was established by the Raja of Travancore Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma in 1836-37. The Raja wrote to the British Resident, Colonel James Stuart Fraser, an amateur scientist proposing the establishment of an astronomical observatory. This led to John Caldecott who earlier ran a small personal observatory at Allepey being appointed as the royal astronomer. The observatory was located on the highest point in the city and opposite the palace and was considered important as"
"Trivandrum Observatory The Trivandrum Observatory or Thiruvananthapuram Astronomical Observatory is a scientific and astronomical observation station that was established by the Raja of Travancore Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma in 1836-37. The Raja wrote to the British Resident, Colonel James Stuart Fraser, an amateur scientist proposing the establishment of an astronomical observatory. This led to John Caldecott who earlier ran a small personal observatory at Allepey being appointed as the royal astronomer. The observatory was located on the highest point in the city and opposite the palace and was considered important as the magnetic equator at that time passed through Trivandrum."
"resign in 1925 and he was succeeded by Paul Stroobant. Since 1981, the ""Sunspot Index Data center"", the World data center for the ""Sunspot Index"" is harbored at the observatory. The Planetarium is located at the Heysel, in the northern region of Brussels. King Baudouin was an amateur astronomer and took a keen interest in the Royal Observatoy. After his death a statue in honour of the king was raised outside the entrance. Royal Observatory of Belgium The Royal Observatory of Belgium (; ), has been situated in Uccle (Ukkel in Dutch) since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode"
"the conditions. In January 1857, King D. Pedro V destined 30 contos de réis to the construction of the observatory and decreed a new commission, managed by Filipe Folque. The commission thought, initially, of constructing the new building in the Prince Royal's garden, then alternately in the Parque Eduardo VII and later the Tapada da Ajuda. The plan of the building, executed by the French architect architects Jean François Gille Colson (1861-1865), José da Costa Sequeira (1800-1872) and Valentim José Correia (1822-1900) (then the most distinguished foreign architect living in Lisbon), was inspired by the building of the Russian Observatory"
"St Pierre's proposal and to offer his own comments. The Commission's conclusions were that, although St Pierre's proposal was not worth further consideration, the King should consider establishing an observatory and appointing an observer in order to better map the stars and the motions of the Moon in order to underpin the successful development of the lunar-distance method of finding longitude. On 4 March 1675 Flamsteed was appointed by royal warrant ""The King's Astronomical Observator"" — the first English Astronomer Royal, with an allowance of £100 a year. The warrant stated his task as ""rectifieing the Tables of the motions"
"However, with refinements the method could be made to work on land. The Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini had pioneered the use of the eclipses of the Galilean moons for longitude measurements, and published tables predicting when eclipses would be visible from a given location. He was invited to France by Louis XIV to set up the Royal Observatory, which opened in 1671 with Cassini as director, a post he would hold for the rest of his life. One of Cassini's first projects at his new post in Paris was to send Frenchman Jean Picard to the site of Tycho"
"installed as its director. The Ordnance Office was given responsibility for building the Observatory, with Moore providing the key instruments and equipment for the observatory at his own personal cost. Flamsteed House, the original part of the Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, probably assisted by Robert Hooke, and was the first purpose-built scientific research facility in Britain. It was built for a cost of £520 (£20 over budget) out of largely recycled materials on the foundations of Duke Humphrey's Tower, the forerunner of Greenwich Castle, which resulted in the alignment being 13 degrees away from true North, somewhat"
"post distinct from Astronomer Royal were: Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory The Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory was the senior scientist responsible for the administration of the Royal Greenwich Observatory from 1972 until the institution's closure in 1998. Executive responsibility for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, had rested with the Astronomer Royal from the institution's foundation in 1675. This practice continued when the observatory moved to Herstmonceux Castle in 1948 and was renamed the Royal Greenwich Observatory. However, the title Astronomer Royal was separated from directorship of the observatory after the retirement of Richard Woolley in 1971. Following"
"Charles Babbage's library after his death in 1871. Royal Observatory, Edinburgh The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an astronomical institution located on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) of STFC, the Institute for Astronomy of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, and the ROE Visitor Centre. The observatory carries out astronomical research and university teaching; design, project management, and construction of instruments and telescopes for astronomical observatories; and teacher training in astronomy and outreach to"
"but this distinguished prince, not satisfied with advancing the interests of elementary education, had established an observatory, and placed in it an English gentleman, a member of the Royal Society of London, and who was in that room – he meant Mr. Caldecott. In this observatory, observations were carried on with the same success as under British interests. The Rajah had also established a magnetical and meteorological observatory, having been led to do so by becoming acquainted with a report on Meteorology, published by the British Association. And the observations taken there were found to be as accurate as those"
"the main advisor to the colonial government on scientific matters. it served as the repository for standard weights and measures of the Colony and was responsible for timekeeping and geodetic surveying. A magnetic observatory was constructed in 1841 but burned down during the following decade. The Observatory also possesses a long series of meteorological records. The history of the Royal Observatory has been the subject of several works. The Royal Observatory's directors were known as His or Her Majesty's Astronomers at the Cape. They were as follows: A full list of people who worked at the Royal Observatory and their"
"Collection of books and manuscripts gifted in 1888 by James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford. Before it moved to the present site in 1896, the Royal Observatory was located on Calton Hill, close to the centre of Edinburgh, at what is now known as the City Observatory. The University of Edinburgh in 1785 and by Royal Warrant of George III created the Regius Chair of Astronomy and appointed Robert Blair first Regius Professor of Astronomy. After his death in 1828 the position remained vacant until 1834. In 1811 private citizens had founded the Astronomical Institution of Edinburgh with John"
"The opening came from a completely unexpected direction. In 1783 the Comte de Cassini addressed a memoir to the Royal Society in which he expressed grave reservations of the measurements of latitude and longitude which had been undertaken at Greenwich Observatory. He suggested that the correct values might be found by combining the Paris Observatory figures with a precise trigonometric survey between the two observatories. Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society, proposed that Roy should lead the project. Roy accepted with enthusiasm for he saw that apart from the specific measurements proposed the survey could be the first"
"Robert Bryson Robert Bryson (25 August 1778 – 8 August 1852) was a chronometer and clock maker in Edinburgh. He received the Royal Warrant as Watch and Clock Maker to Queen Victoria. Robert Bryson made a rolling ball clock in 1804, four years before the design was patented by William Congreve. It is on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. He made a sidereal clock for the Royal Observatory at Carlton Hill, where it was used by Professor Thomas Henderson in his observations. A conversation with Leonard Horner in Robert Bryson's watchmakers shop led to the founding"
"were reinstated in the late 1870s following construction of the cut-and-cover tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill stations. The tunnel comprised part of the final section of the London and Greenwich Railway and opened in 1878. Flamsteed House (1675–76), the original part of the Royal Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke and was the first purpose-built scientific institution in Britain. In 1953, the Old Royal Observatory became part of the Museum. Flamsteed House, was first opened for visitors by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960. The 17th-century Queen’s House, an early classical building designed by Inigo Jones,"
"been Radcliffe Observers: Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the observatory forms a part of the Green Templeton College of the University of Oxford. The observatory was founded and named after John Radcliffe by the Radcliffe Trustees. It was built on the suggestion of the astronomer Thomas Hornsby, who was occupying the Savilian Chair of Astronomy, following his observation of the notable transit of Venus across"
"and now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The former royal manor of Kew lies to the immediate north. The observatory grounds overlie to the south the site of the former Sheen Priory, the Carthusian monastery established by King Henry V in 1414. The observatory is not publicly accessible, and obscuring woodlands mean that it cannot be viewed from outside the golf course, which is not open to the general public. Directors (superintendents) of the observatory included Stephen Demainbray, Francis Ronalds, John Welsh, Balfour Stewart, Francis John Welsh Whipple, Charles Chree, and George Clarke Simpson. The observatory was"
"invented by Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843–1920) who was a Royal Engineer, an English astronomer and chemist best known for his pioneering of colour photography and colour vision. Abney invented this instrument under the employment of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham, England, in the 1870s. In 1873, Captain Henry Brandreth RE was appointed Director of the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, later the Admiralty Works Department. Following this appointment many Royal Engineer officers superintended engineering works at Royal Navy Dockyards in various parts of the world, including the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. Chatham, being the"
"many virtues and many great imperfections, debonair, easy of access, not bloody or cruel"". John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, wrote more lewdly of Charles: Charles, a patron of the arts and sciences, founded the Royal Observatory and supported the Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton. He was the personal patron of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who helped rebuild London after the Great Fire and who constructed the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which Charles founded as a home for retired soldiers in 1682. As a patron of education, he"
"Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory The Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory was the senior scientist responsible for the administration of the Royal Greenwich Observatory from 1972 until the institution's closure in 1998. Executive responsibility for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, had rested with the Astronomer Royal from the institution's foundation in 1675. This practice continued when the observatory moved to Herstmonceux Castle in 1948 and was renamed the Royal Greenwich Observatory. However, the title Astronomer Royal was separated from directorship of the observatory after the retirement of Richard Woolley in 1971. Following this, Margaret Burbidge was appointed Director,"
"Melbourne Observatory Melbourne Observatory was founded in 1862 to serve as a scientific research institution for the rapidly growing city of Melbourne, the capital of the colony of Victoria. The observatory was tasked by the Victorian government with maintaining an accurate time reference for the colony through observations of stars using a transit telescope as well as general astronomical research. The idea for a Melbourne Observatory was first proposed by English astronomer William Parkinson Wilson in a paper read before The Philosophical Institute of Victoria in 1856; and soon after a committee was formed to ""achieve Wilson's 'noble object'"". The"
"first royally-funded observatory to enjoy a significant period of operation. Isfahan Observatory The Isfahan Observatory (also Malikshah Observatory) was an astronomical observatory constructed during the reign of Sultan Malik Shah I, closing shortly after his death in 1092. It was from the work at the observatory that the Jalali Calendar was adopted. Aside from the work on the calendar, little is known about the purpose of the observatory, as no comprehensive sources from its time period are known to exist about the work performed there. In 1073, Malik Shah invited the astronomer-poet-mathematician Omar Khayyam to oversee an observatory being constructed"
"age of his equipment. This brought events to a head and the Royal Observatory was almost closed when James Lindsay, Earl of Crawford made a donation of new astronomical instruments and the complete ""Bibliotheca Lindesiana"" in order that a new observatory could be founded. Thanks to this donation, the new Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill was opened in 1896. After his resignation, Smyth retired to the neighbourhood of Ripon, where he remained until his death. Smyth corresponded with pyramid theorist John Taylor and was heavily influenced by him. Taylor theorized in his 1859 book ""The Great Pyramid: Why Was It"