Scope and Contents Correspondence with the Admiralty concerning money grants and salaries:Correspondence between Airy and the Admiralty on the excess of outlay over estimate for 'the Xmas Quarter 1848', 1849.Letters of approval, 1849, for Airy's scheme for the payment of salaries, etc., for the financial year 1849-1850.Letters concerning the increased payment to the Kent Waterworks for a constant supply of water at a high pressure, 1849.Letter from Airy to the Admiralty, 1850,...

Scope and Contents Various letters and copies of the royal appointments of the Astronomers Royal.1. Letter from the Royal Society, 5 March 1713, requesting the 1712 observations.2. A copy of the official royal appointment of Nevil Maskelyne as Astronomer Royal, with the signature of the Earl of Sandwich.3. A copy of the official royal appointment of James Bradley as Astronomer Royal, with the signature of Holles Newcastle.4. A copy of the royal warrant for employment and payment...

Scope and Contents Undated astronomical computations, tables, rules and observations, including:1. The rules for finding the constant number to be added to the longitude of the Moon to find the argument of deviation in regard to specified stars.2. Rules for finding the aberration of a star in longitude, latitude, right ascension and north polar distance.3. Stars in the British Catalogue.4. To find the nonagesimal degree and its altitude with reference to various...

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Tables of altitudes at Cambridge, Eustachio Zanotti's observations of the transit of Venus of 1761, parallax of the Sun by transit observations, 'Halley's problem', and the problems of converting from heliocentric to geocentric longitudes.

Scope and Contents Work on Mars and other planets; notes about a clock (341v), micrometer trials (342v-346r), optics (348r, 349r) and a barometer (351r); work on lunar and solar parallax (352v-359r, 360v-364r); a brief Latin treatise by Flamsteed, 'De motu Solis et numeris corrigendis' ('On the Sun's motion and numbers to be corrected') (363v); work on lunar problems (366v-370v); and a copy of an extract of a letter to Edmond Halley about refractions and the height of the atmosphere, 1675 (369v-370r). The...

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An undated copy of Edmond Halley's catalogue of southern stars (206r-216r), differing from the published version [1679], with rough calculations relating mostly to eclipses (204v-205r, 217r-244r). The catalogue is undated, but the calculations refer to dates up to 1718. The writing is in Halley's hand.

Scope and Contents An untitled compilation of notes and other papers on a range of subjects, 192 folios. The earlier part of the book is in Flamsteed's hand, but the hands of assistants and unidentified pupils appear with increasing frequency thereafter. There is a two-part contents page by Flamsteed.The volume includes various observations: of solar altitude, made in New England [by Thomas Brattle] (21rv); of an occultation and lunar eclipse by Johann Hevelius, 1681-1682 (22r, 28v-30v); of comets,...

Scope and Contents An undated compilation of observations made between October 1671 and November 1676, in Flamsteed's hand, 59 folios. The volume includes observations of solar and lunar diameters (6r-12r), and of the Pleiades (14r-16r); observations made at the Tower, April-July 1675 (17r-21r), and at the Queen's House, Greenwich, September-December 1675 and March-November 1676 (20v-24v, 33r-52r); and 'Maculae sub Sole obser-vatae Historia' ('An account of sunspots observed', 53v-57r). There are also notes...

Scope and Contents Computations of the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets. The calculations were performed by Reuben Burrow between 24 August 1762 and 3 March 1765. 1. Sun's declination and obliquity.2. Computation of the Sun's longitude and latitude from right ascension and declination as compared with 'Connaissance des Temps'.3. Computation of the Sun's longitude from Johann Mayer's tables.4. Mean times of the meridian transits of the Moon.5. Mean times of the...

Scope and Contents Computations of the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets performed by William Bayly and Reuben Burrow from observations taken when Nathaniel Bliss was Astronomer Royal.1. The Sun's right ascension and declination, clock errors, and longitude and latitude derived from observations and Johann Mayer's tables for 11 May 1765 to 10 May 1767.2. Moon's right ascension and declination, clock errors, and longitude and latitude derived from observations and Mayer's tables for 31 May...

Scope and Contents Minutes of Board of Longitude meetings regarding, among other matters, discussions on John Harrison's first marine chronometer (H1); the purchase of new instruments for work on the longitude and latitude of the coasts of Britain; improvements to the reflecting telescope; Tobias Mayer's lunar motion tables; the trial of John Harrison's chronometers; errors in the tables of the satellites; Schutz's machine for finding longitude; Chistopher Irwin's marine chair; the use of lunar observations...

Scope and Contents Seven notebooks, now bound together into one volume, written in various hands. The contents include sermon notes (299r-308v); clock notes in the hands of Flamsteed and Edmond Halley, 1675-1676 (310r-331v); 'Mr Flamsteed's New Table of Refractions', with mathematical notes by Margaret Flamsteed (332r-353v); Flamsteed's notes on a transit of Mercury, 1677, and other observations by Richard Towneley (354r-361v); Jonas Moore's summaries of correspondence between William Crabtree and William...

Scope and Contents A guardbook of letters received by Flamsteed, with some drafts of replies and some copies of both, 163 folios. The correspondents are mainly in the English provinces, although some write from abroad, and there are also original letters from Flamsteed to Sir Jonas Moore. The letters date primarily from 1671 to 1719, but a few are either undated or possibly earlier. Apart from those to Moore, most of the letters are of the eighteenth century. Many of the sheets have rough arithmetical notes on...

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Correspondence with the committee for the commemoration of the tercentenary of Edmond Halley's birth.

Scope and Contents Correspondence and some related papers regarding the general administration of the approaches, grounds and interior of Herstmonceux Castle; the removal of the Royal Observatory from Greenwich to Herstmonceux; and the history of the Royal Observatory and Herstmonceux Castle. The papers include the following items:Letter from G. Jones to R. Woolley concerning the gift of his painting of the old buildings at Greenwich, 1956.Correspondence regarding the pair of swans for the lake...

Scope and Contents Correspondence regarding accounts held with various tradesmen:Section (i)Correspondence with tradesmen concerning the settlement of bills and accounts for repairs to buildings, instruments and stationery, 1908.Estimate from Williams and Norgate for supplying millimetre paper, 1894.Correspondence with Bernard Quaritch concerning the purchases of books, 1894.Bill from Gridley and Ford for the carriage of parcels, 1894.Bill from H.J. Smith for...

Scope and Contents 'Historiae Coelestis Pars priore sive Stellarum Fixarum Catalogus Britannicus', an unfinished draft of Flamsteed's stellar catalogue, 84 folios. The writing is in the hands of several of Flamsteed's assistants, with additions and alterations in his own hand and those of David Gregory and Edmond Halley. The text is comprised of material from which Flamsteed's 1712 published catalogue was produced. The main tables are on the rectos, with rough notes, often in pencil, on the versos of the...

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A collection of loose portrait plates, chiefly of astronomers, printed from engravings, drawings and photographs. The portraits are arranged alphabetically by surname of the sitter. Alongside astronomers, sitters include physicists, mathematicians and other scientists of note. The collection also includes a single portrait of King Charles II, an RGO staff photograph, and a book of portraits of astronomers.

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Various rough drafts of the solution of astronomical problems.

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Errors of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in longitude and latitude, apparently compared with Edmond Halley's tables.

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Envelope with printed images of Halley, a satellite and the comet as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry and in art, with the 17p Halley’s Comet stamp affixed. Postmarked by the London Planetarium and by British Airways. Also an information sheet (originally enclosed in the envelope).

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Envelope with a printed image of Edmond Halley and the Comet, marked ‘The London Planetarium welcomes the return of Halley’s Comet’. The Halley 17p stamp is affixed, postmarked by the London Planetarium.

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Envelope marked ‘The Return of Halley’s Comet / Official Cover, Old Royal Observatory Greenwich’, printed with an image of the comet and a satellite. Four Halley’s Comet stamps are affixed, postmarked by the O.R.O. Greenwich, ‘Many Happy returns to Halley’. Also an information sheet on the comet (originally enclosed in the envelope).

Scope and Contents Correspondence and other items from a guardbook regarding the printing of Flamsteed's works, 98 folios. The papers include letters from the 'Referees' and drafts of Flamsteed's replies; an 'Estimate of the Expence of Printing the Historia Coelestis' (19r); 'Articles for Printing' (34r-39r); a draft agreement (43r); and draft petitions to the Queen (49r-50r, 66r). There are also related statements by Flamsteed concerning his personal history, including drafts of his 'Account of the...

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First day cover envelope issued by the International Astronomical Union, New Delhi, decorated with a sun and moon and bearing a 100-rupee stamp showing Halley’s Comet.