Royal Greenwich Observatory
Organization
Found in 15 Collections and/or Records:
Series
Airy's Transit Circle: observation and reduction ledgers and associated papers, 1850 - 1982
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 126
Scope and Contents
The items in this collection are both bound and unbound sets of the pre-printed forms which were used to record measurements of the transits of objects across the Greenwich Meridian and thus allow the accurate calculation of their position. Observations made on the Airy and Cooke Reversible Transit Circles were treated by the observers as a continuous sequence and the forms in later volumes are generally headed "Cooke Reversible Transit Circle".
Dates:
1850 - 1982
Conditions Governing Access:
N.B. Some volumes series /1 and series /4 should be ordered 48 hours in advance due to their poor physical condition. Please see individual entries for details.
Item
An account of the rate of several chronometers on trial at the Royal Observatory, 1822-02 - 1823-02
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/23: 32-56
Scope and Contents
Monthly accounts, followed by mean daily rates.
Dates:
1822-02 - 1823-02
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Series
David V. Thomas Papers, 1956 - 1979, 2023
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 147
Scope and Contents
The papers of David Thomas cover the years 1956-1979. They include correspondence files, draft articles for publication, administrative papers, and a selection of digitised slides. The administrative papers date from Thomas’s time as Chairman of the RGO section of SRC branch of IPCS. They give an important insight into RGO staff concerns about the future of the organisation and of British Astronomy in general. Particularly significant are the files on the separation of the posts of...
Dates:
1956 - 1979; 2023
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Item
Lunar and other observations compared with tables, 1820-01 - 1822-06
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/48: 3-8
Scope and Contents
From the File:
Observations and correspondence regarding miscellaneous astronomical matters.
Dates:
1820-01 - 1822-06
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Sub-Series
MT: Miscellaneous RGO Tracings, c.1950-1992
Sub-Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 101/1/MT
Scope and Contents
A set of miscellaneous drawings relating to RGO Herstmonceux and also the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma. They were originally rolled together in three rolls labelled 'MT Miscellaneous RGO Tracings (not microfilmed)'. The drawings have been arranged in sets according to drawing number where possible; drawing number usually corresponds to size ('V' being the largest and 'Z' the smallest). There are distinct V, W, X, Y and Z sized drawings, and four additional sets, including a...
Dates:
c.1950-1992
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Series
Newspaper cuttings on the RGO and astronomy, 1922 - 1998
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 190
Scope and Contents
A set of press cuttings on the subjects of astronomy, the RGO, its move to Herstmonceux Castle and later to Cambridge, and its subsequent closure. Significant cuttings include coverage of the Moon landings (1968), the Space Race, the Apollo 13 disaster (1970), Halley's Comet (1986), images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, Comet Shoemaker-Levi’s collision with Jupiter (1994), Comet Hale-Bopp (1997), and the Galileo mission to Jupiter.Early coverage is sporadic, with cuttings...
Dates:
1922 - 1998
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Item
Notes on the rate of Thomas Cumming's chronometer, 1820
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/24: 362
Scope and Contents
From the Sub-file:
Tables and notes on the rate of a chronometer by Thomas Cumming which was tested at the Royal Society and Royal Observatory, Greenwich; with three related letters from C.G. Briscoe and Cumming.
Dates:
1820
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Series
Requests for Astronomical Information: celestial phenomena and unidentified flying objects, 1968-1975, 1978
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 83
Scope and Contents
This class consists of requests for astronomical information sent to the Royal Greenwich Observatory between 1968 and 1975. It includes letters from the public, both in the UK and worldwide. Both incoming letters and carbon copies of official responses are preserved, with replies generally signed by Humphry Smith or William (Bill) Nicholson who were joint Press Officers from 1968.The first nine files are letters from the UK, deemed ‘general’ or ‘special’, and each organised in...
Dates:
1968-1975, 1978
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Series
RGO Danjon Astrolabe papers, 1958 - 1979
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 87
Scope and Contents
The Danjon Astrolabe is a highly specialised instrument developed in the 1950s for use as an alternative to conventional transit instruments, which had many sources of potential error. In July 1959, a Danjon astrolabe (OPL No.9) was brought into service at the RGO Herstmonceux under the direction of C. A. Murray, primarily in order to extend the study of its effectiveness in determining corrections to the catalogue positions of bright stars. Before commencing operations, the method of...
Dates:
1958 - 1979
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Series
RO and RGO Solar Plates, 1918 - 1979
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 50
Scope and Contents
RGO 50 is the product of a solar observation programme begun in 1873 at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and continued, from 1953 to 1979, at Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux. It primarily consists of a sequence of glass plate negatives of daily observations. Where no plate was produced at Greenwich or Herstmonceux the gap has been filled by sourcing plates from observatories elsewhere around the world, particularly the Indian observatories at Kodaikanal and Dehra Dūn. Observation...
Dates:
1918 - 1979
Conditions Governing Access:
N.B. THIS SERIES IS NOT STORED AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. Requests for access may be directed to the Royal Greenwich Observatory Archivist by sending an email to mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Items RGO 50/747a, 1155a, 50/14971 and 22230 are marked as missing in the original manuscript listing.
Series
RO and RGO Solar Plates Contact Prints, 1873-06-02 - 1972-08-02
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 51
Scope and Contents
The 1873-1917 prints in this class were made from glass plate negatives which are no longer extant. The plates were the product of a solar observation programme begun in 1873 at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich but are thought to have been destroyed in the First World War. The sequence of images is a continuation of RGO 67: Kew Observatory solar photographs (1858-72) and is itself continued by RGO 50: Royal Observatory Greenwich and Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux Solar Plates...
Dates:
1873-06-02 - 1972-08-02
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Management Group
Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives
Management Group
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO
Scope and Contents
The RGO archives collection is now deposited in the University Library and consists of all the surviving historical paper records of the Royal Observatory from 1675 until circa 1980, though many later records are held and the collection accrues as material is deposited. The records are public records under the 1958 Public Records Act and are subject to the provisions of the 1958 and 1967 Acts, including the 'thirty-year rule'; at present all records created before 1992 January 01 are open...
Dates:
1675 - 2019
Conditions Governing Access:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in:
Cambridge University Library
Series
Royal Observatory and RGO Solar Eclipse expedition records, 1896 - 1954
Series
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 169
Scope and Contents
A set of files relating to British expeditions to observe solar eclipses. The record is incomplete and mainly consists of notebooks and correspondence re equipment and supplies. Included are notebooks listing photographic plates for the solar eclipses of 1900, 1901, 1905, 1912 and 1914 [RGO 169/1], notebooks listing equipment for the 1905 and 1932 eclipses [RGO 169/2 and 5], and correspondence regarding preparations for the UK-based observation of the 1927 eclipse [RGO 169/4]. The 1940...
Dates:
1896 - 1954
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Item
Table of the mean daily rates and variations of chronometers by J.M. French, 1826
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/23: 87
Scope and Contents
From the Item:
Includes accounts of the rates of chronometers, reports on chronometer trials, and eleven related letters.
Dates:
1826
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Item
Various comparisons of Greenwich Observations with the Nautical Almanac, 1816 - 1827
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/48: 10-15
Scope and Contents
From the File:
Observations and correspondence regarding miscellaneous astronomical matters.
Dates:
1816 - 1827
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Management Group:
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).