Scope and Contents

Newspaper cuttings, statistics and diagrams illustrating sunspots and their relation to the harvest, 1906-1912. On fo. 59 is a copy of a letter from Sir Norman Lockyer to Swinton, 8 May 1901.

Scope and Contents

The collection primarily consists of the Maunders' published works both on their research and explanatory works on astronomy for a more popular audience. Some of these publications bear annotations. There are also some notes on a variety of subjects, a pin-hole camera, a planisphere and some items of correspondence. There is supporting material in the form of obituaries, letters of condolence and subsequent published works on the Maunders and their work.

Scope and Contents

The prints span an eleven year period ostensibly to record a whole solar or sunspot cycle. That the purpose of the exercise may have been to investigate the supposed effect of planetary configuration on the abundance of solar spots is indicated by the presence of charts of planetary positions pasted on the verso of the mount boards and corresponding in date precisely to the prints.

Scope and Contents The bulk of RGO 66 comprises the incoming and copy correspondence of the chief assistant, later superintendant, George Mathews Whipple during 1871-5. Much of it is with the chemist and astronomer Warren De La Rue whose photoheliograph was moved to and used at Kew in the early 1870s. The correspondence is largely concerned with solar photographs and the practicalities of their production. There are a few financial papers and some records of solar and lunar observations made both at Kew and...

Scope and Contents

RGO 67 largely consists of a good run of contact prints from glass plate negatives of the sun produced between January 1862 and January 1872. The most significant breaks are December 1862-May 1863 and August-September 1872. Additionally there are a handful of glass plate negatives and contact prints produced in 1858-9, and one further negative dated 1866. The sequence of images is essentially continued by RGO 51: RO and RGO Solar Plates Contact Prints.

Scope and Contents

RGO 57 contains drawings of sunspots showing their development, size and grouping, with tables recording the number of sunspots for each year.

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.

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...

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...

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...

Scope and Contents RGO 58 contains copies of drawings by H.S. Schwabe showing the location and grouping of sunspots during 5 November 1825 to 29 December 1867. The copies were made at the Kew Observatory, February- April 1880. They were traced by several different people and indexed and checked by H. McLaughlin and the Superintendent, G.M. Whipple. Each volume includes notes recording poor weather conditions, days when observations were not made and other information. There are also tables summarising the...

Scope and Contents Frontispiece . Eclipse Expedition ParticipantsPage 2: Photo 1. View of Dominion Observatory with inset portrait of J.S. Plaskett.Page 3: Photo 2. ‘Quebec’. View of city from across river. Credited photographer: Near.Page 3: Photo 3. ‘Before Leaving’. Informal group photo on deck aboard ship. Credited photographer: Marsh.Page 4: Photo 4. ‘Leaving the "King"’. Informal group photo on deck aboard ship. Credited photographer: Near.Page 4: Photo 5. ‘On the way home’....