Astronomy
Subject
Subject Source: UK Archival Thesaurus
Found in 164 Collections and/or Records:
File
Journal 2, 1905 - 1909
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 75/2
Scope and Contents
No index is included in this volume. The journal contains tables of plates in groups dated 1855-1875 (20 years), 1955-1900 (45 years), and 1855-1925 (70 years), catalogues of spare and duplicate plates, remarks and comparisons, verification of Kapleyn’s results, a meteorological record from Jan. 1905 to July 1908, and memoranda. It also includes mention of Franklin-Adams’ machines for counting stars and drawing precision lines, from lists of books published and cut out and entered into this...
Dates:
1905 - 1909
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).
File
Lady Margaret Clive's letters, 1762 - 1917
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 218/9
Scope and Contents
This series comprises four folders of letters sent by Lady Clive to her brother Nevil Maskelyne, her niece Margaret Maskelyne, and to other family members. The letters span 55 years, from 1762 until Lady Clive's death on 28 Dec. 1817. Many mention astronomy, including sightings of the great comet of 1811.
The series also includes a set of copies of family letters (including some written by Nevil Maskelyne), and notes by Theresa Story-Maskelyne on the letters of Lady Clive.
Dates:
1762 - 1917
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
Lady Margaret portrait displayed, 19730807
Reference Code: GBR/1849/FP/272/1/xliv
Scope and Contents
There was a Richard III exhibition in London at which the Lady Margaret potrait was displayed. Peck observed the planet Venus.
Dates:
19730807
File
Letter book containing outgoing correspondence, 1782 - 1810
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/9
Scope and Contents
Outgoing correspondence regarding many astronomical and nautical subjects, including accounts with printers, the production of the 'Nautical Almanac', expeditions to Australia, a reward for a method of making glass of a sufficient quality for instruments, the trial of various timepieces and their employment on board Royal Navy vessels, replies to projectors proposing various methods of finding longitude at sea, and instructions for astronomers (including William Gooch on board the Daedalus...
Dates:
1782 - 1810
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).
File
Letter from Edmund Halley to King James II, 1687
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Ff.05.38
Scope and Contents
The letter accompanied a copy of Newton's 'Principia'. It explains the nature of the work, and especially the theory of tides. It begins 'May it please, &c. I could not have presumed ...', and concludes 'I doubt not but if your Majestie shall please to suffer me to be admitted to the honour of your presence I may be able to give such an account thereof as may be to your Majesties full content. I am, &c., Edmond Halley'.
Dates:
1687
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Collection:
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
Letter from John Flamsteed to the Bishop of Worcester, William Lloyd, 1703-11-27
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 1/77
Scope and Contents
Concerning calculations of the time of the lunar eclipse of 3 April [AD] 33 [and its identification as eclipse recorded as occurring on the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ].
Dates:
1703-11-27
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).
File
Letters from Maskelyne to Henry Andrews, 1768 - 1811
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 4/149
Scope and Contents
The letters are primarily from Nevil Maskelyne but include three sent to Andrews by Margaret Maskelyne, following the death of her father.
Dates:
1768 - 1811
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).
Collection
Letters, memoranda and journal containing the history of Mr William Gooch
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Mm.6.48
Dates:
1786 - 1835
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).
File
List of ‘Permanent Staff of the Royal Observatory for the Hundred Years 1811-1910 and from 1910 to date’ [c.1936], 1910 - 1936
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 171/6/3
Scope and Contents
Manuscript list with typed cover and table of contents. Includes a note by W.W. Burkett dated 1911. The list is organised by Astronomers Royal, First (Chief) Assistants, Assistants, Clerical Assistants, Established Computers, Staff of the Magnetic and Meteorological Department 1850-1910, General arrangement of staff 1811-1910, Belgian Refugees temporarily employed during the [First World] War, and industrial staff.Staff are listed in alphabetical order, with date of birth,...
Dates:
1910 - 1936
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).
File
Log book, observations and memoir of the HMS Investigator, 1795 - 1805
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/64
Scope and Contents
From the Series:
The first part of collection is comprised of papers concerning the internal affairs of the Board of Longitude, including the granting of awards, accounts, minutes, committee papers, petitions and memorials, the loan of instruments, publications and the payment of staff. These are followed by a wide range of papers relating to the Board's work, concerning clocks, chronometers and other instruments; longitude and latitude; magnetic variation; schemes and inventions; tables; pendulum...
Dates:
1795 - 1805
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).
File
Log book of HMS Adventure, 1772 - 1774
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/56
Scope and Contents
The log book of HMS Adventure compiled by W. Bayly during his passage to the South Seas as part of the expedition led by Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution.
Dates:
1772 - 1774
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).
File
Log book of HMS Resolution, 1772 - 1775
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/58
Scope and Contents
The log book of HMS Resolution compiled by William Wales during the passage to the South Seas under the command of Captain James Cook.
Dates:
1772 - 1775
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).
Fonds
Long: the papers of Roger Long
Reference Code: GBR/1058/LON
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of Roger Long's Commonplace Books and notebooks as well as posthumous material collected by the College.
Dates:
1698-1951 and undated
File
Lunar tables, 1778
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 4/86
Scope and Contents
Lunar tables in longitude and latitude according to the Newtonian law of gravity, by Charles Mason, 1778. The volume includes a disapproval of Mason's fee from the Board of Longitude [RGO 4/86: 2]; an example of computing the Moon's longitude and latitude; annual equations of the Moon's anomaly and ascending node; and computed longitude and latitude compared with observed longitude and latitude, with corrections, 13 September 1750 - 2 November 1760 [RGO 4/86: 14r].
Dates:
1778
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 — Multiple Containers
Manuals for RGO Instruments, Computers and other Technical Apparatus, 1972 - 1995
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 145
Scope and Contents
Mainly ex-RGO Library copies of RGO manuals. Many are photocopied manuals with original RGO library reference numbers on the cover. Includes some duplicates of manuals held elsewhere in the RGO archives. Arranged in chronological order.
Dates:
1972 - 1995
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).
Fonds
Maps, Plans and Technical Drawings, c.1715-1998
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 101
Scope and Contents
Cataloguing and conservation of this class is still in progress. For all queries and requests for access, please contact the RGO Archivist, Dr Emma Saunders, at els57@cam.ac.uk.A large collection of technical drawings and plans of telescopes, instruments and buildings of the Royal Observatory Greenwich and RGO Herstmonceux.The largest series (RGO 101/1) comprises drawings made internally by the RGO's Drawing Office, and later, 'Drawing and Design Offices', based at...
Dates:
c.1715-1998
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).
File
Maskelyne notebook: rough drafts of solutions of various astronomical problems, 1750 - 1772
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 4/66
Scope and Contents
Various rough drafts of the solution of astronomical problems.
Dates:
1750 - 1772
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
Memoir by David V. Thomas titled, 'Twinkle, Twinkle - Measuring the Stars, and Subsequent Adventures', 2023
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 147/6
Scope and Contents
From the Series:
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:
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).
File
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1765 - 1809
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 4/187
Scope and Contents
Note that there is no letter numbered 14.
Dates:
1765 - 1809
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
Nathy O'Hora Papers, 1913 - 1927, bulk: 1946 - 2014
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 219
Scope and Contents
The Nathy O'Hora papers include the research, publications, and presentations of himself, others, and the RGO. This research notably includes eclipses, a topic to which O'Hora devoted considerable time after retiring. The collection also includes papers and correspondence relating to the Time Department where he worked, his notebooks on various scientific theories and practices, ledgers that he used to record weather data, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Dates:
1913 - 1927; Majority of material found within 1946 - 2014
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).
File
Nautical astronomy, 1770 - 1810
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 4/196
Scope and Contents
A set of loose pages dealing with problems in ascertaining latitude and longitude at sea by observation of the stars, with descriptions, computations and formulae referred to apparent time. There are also sections on finding the Moon's longitude from the nautical ephemeris [RGO 4/196: 1r], the motion of the Sun's image in a Hadley quadrant [RGO 4/196: 2r], and the testing of other people's hypotheses.
It is not known if the papers are foliated in their original order.
Dates:
1770 - 1810
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).
File
Navigation tables, 1750 - 1828
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 14/47
Scope and Contents
Undated extended manuscript navigation tables.
Dates:
1750 - 1828
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
Nevil Maskelyne: Personal and Family Papers, 1749 - 1950
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 218
Scope and Contents
A collection of papers of Nevil Maskelyne and letters relating to his family, including the extended family (by marriage) of his daughter, Margaret Story-Maskelyne. The collection includes an account and diary of a voyage to India mentioning Nevil Maskelyne and Lord Clive, twelve memoranda books and one account book belonging to Maskelyne, and a catalogue and list of his books. There is also a set of documents relating to the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The letters include...
Dates:
1749 - 1950
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
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).
File
Nicholas Saunderson: Lectures
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.6312
Scope and Contents
A series of lectures on the tides and other scientific subjects delivered by Professor Saunderson, 125 folios. On fo. iv is an extract relating to Horace Walpole and Saunderson. The versos are mostly blank, but have occasional diagrams. (Fo. iv) 'T. Aynscough, Coll. Joh. Cant., 1737'; (fo. 1) 'Lectures on the Tides'; (fo. 9) 'Of the Ascent and Suspension of Liquors in Capillary Tubes'; (fo. 19) 'Of the Ascent and Suspension of Mercury in the Barometer'; (fo. 24) 'Of the Prolate Sphaeroidical...
Dates:
1737
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).