Greenwich Observatory

“ The Royal Observatory at Greenwich has always been, and is now, better equipped in some respects than any other observatory, as might be expected from its deservedly great reputation; but to possess the largest existing telescope has never been one of its ambitions. The instruments in which it takes most pride are remarkable for their steadiness and accuracy rather than for their size;not having suitable telescope at Greenwich and at that time the best telescope possessed by the observatory was not, in Airy’s opinion, large enough to detect the planet with certainty. ”

“ For forty years the present Astronomer Royal has been the active head of the Greenwich Observatory, and he has been in the most active way concerned in many scientific councils; as he says, "there is not a single assistant of a single instrument in use of those which formed the establishment in 1835," and yet in all these years he has kept steadily one main object in view, and as far as one man can attain it he has attained it. ”

“ The Greenwich Observatory is not a show place, but an eminently practical establishment. St. Petersburg and other cities have much more gorgeous buildings devoted to astronomical purposes, and Russia and other countries spend much more money on astronomy than England does, yet the Greenwich Tables have a world-wide reputation, and some of them are used as the groundwork for calculations in all Observatories at home and abroad. The astronomer does not want marble halls or grand saloons for his work. ”

“ In this activity Greenwich Observatory practically took no part. Airy, ever mindful of the original purpose of the Observatory, and deeply imbued with views similar to those which we have quoted from Bessel, considered that the new science lay outside the scope of his duties, until in Mr., now Sir William,
[271] Huggins's skilful hands the spectroscope showed itself not only as a means for determining the condition and constitution of the stars, but also their movements—until, in short, it had shown itself as an astronomical instrument even within Bessel's narrow definition. ”

“ But—as was said when speaking of the Astronomical Observatory—Greenwich is a practical place, and not one prepared for show. Science, like virtue, does not require a palace for a dwelling-place. In this collection of deal houses, during the last ten years, Nature has been constantly watched, and interrogated with the zeal and patience which alone can glean a knowledge of her secrets. And the results of those watches, kept at all hours, and in all weathers, are curious in the extreme; but before we ask what they are, let us cross the barrier, and see with what tools the weather-students work. ”

“ It is one of the most fortunate and remarkable coincidences in the whole history of science, that at the very time that Greenwich Observatory was being called into existence, the greatest of all astronomers was working out his demonstration of the great fundamental law of the material universe—the law that every particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force which varies directly with the mass and inversely with the square of the distance. ”

“ It has been invariably my own intention to maintain the principles of the long-established system in perfect integrity; varying the instruments, the modes of employing them, and the modes of utilizing the observations of calculation and publication, as the progress of science might seem to require.'
The result of this keen appreciation of the essential continuity of the Astronomer Royalship has been that it is to Airy, more than to any of his predecessors, or than to all of them put together, that the high reputation of Greenwich Observatory is due. ”

“ I trust that I am doing well in rendering Greenwich, even more distinctly than it has been heretofore, the place of reference to all the world for the important observations, and results of observations, on which the system of the universe is founded. As regards myself, I have been accustomed, in these matters, to lay aside private considerations; to consider that I am not a mere Superintendent of current observations, but a Trustee for the honour of Greenwich Observatory generally, and for its utility generally to the world ”

“ Soon, under the guidance of the good genius so invoked, the secrets of the place begin to reveal themselves.
The part of the Observatory so conspicuous from without is the portion least used within. When it was designed by Christopher Wren, the general belief was that such buildings should be lofty, that the observer might be raised toward the heavenly bodies whose motions he was to watch. More modern science has taught its disciples better; and in Greenwich—which is an eminently practical Observatory—the working part of the building is found crouching behind the loftier towers. ”

“ Before the stars can safely be employed as route-marks in the sky, their movements must accordingly be tabulated, and research into the method of such movements inevitably follows. We perceive then that the fundamental problems of sidereal science are closely linked up with the elementary and indispensable procedures of celestial measurement.
The history of the Greenwich observatory is one of strenuous efforts for refinement, stimulated by the growing stringency of theoretical necessities. ”

“ If we believe, as surely we must, that not only the moral and the physical progress of mankind is watched over and controlled by God's good Providence, but its intellectual progress as well, then there can be no doubt that John Flamsteed was raised up at this particular time, not merely to found Greenwich Observatory, and to assist the solution of the problem of the longitude at sea, but also, and chiefly, to become the auxiliary to a far greater mind, the journeyman to a true master-builder. ”

“ Greenwich Observatory has been here selected for tracing the progress of accurate measurement. But there is one instrument of great value, the heliometer, which is not used at Greenwich. This serves the purpose of a double image micrometer, and is made by dividing the object-glass of a telescope along a diameter. Each half is mounted so as to slide a distance of several inches each way on an arc whose centre is the focus. The amount of the movement can be accurately read. ”

“ True to the traditions which have brought Greenwich its great success, the Astronomer Royal reiterates in this Report the importance of holding fast to "the fundamental idea—"that of meridional observations; and he indicates that if the force of the observatory must be reduced, that reduction should take place in the photographic and spectroscopic work. He says truly that "the [Royal] Observatory is not the place for new physical investigations," but that it is "well adapted for following out any which . . . have been reduced to laws susceptible of verification by daily observation." ”

“ The Mural Circle was now nearly ready in all respects, and it was known that another Assistant would be required. Mr Richardson (one of the Assistants of Greenwich Observatory) and Mr Simms recommended to me Mr Glaisher, who was soon after appointed, and subsequently became an Assistant at Greenwich.—On Dec. 24th I have a letter from Bessel (the first I believe) . I think that I had written to him about a general reduction of the Greenwich Planetary Observations, using his Tabulae Regiomontanae as basis, and that this was his reply approving of it. ”

“ As an astronomer, his services to the science rank higher than those of his predecessor; but as Astronomer Royal, as director, that is to say, of Greenwich Observatory, he by no means accomplished as much as Flamsteed had done. Professor Grant, in his History of Physical Astronomy, says that he seems to have undervalued those habits of minute attention which are indispensable to the attainment of a high degree of excellence in the practice of astronomical observation. ”

“ It was necessary, however, to follow up the problem more precisely, and accordingly an application was made through Professor Challis, the Director of the Cambridge Observatory, to the Astronomer Royal, with the object of obtaining from the observations made at Greenwich Observatory more accurate values for the disturbances suffered by Uranus. Basing his work on the more precise materials thus available, Adams undertook his calculations anew, and at last, with his completed results, he called at Greenwich Observatory on October the 21st, 1845. ”

“ We may begin our inspection with a body which is, for us, next to the earth, the most important in the universe. I mean the sun. At the Greenwich Observatory the sun has for more than twenty years been regularly photographed on every clear day, with the view of determining the changes going on in its spots. In recent years these observations have been supplemented by others, made at stations in India and Mauritius, so that by the combination of all it is quite exceptional to have an entire day pass without at least one photograph being taken. ”

“ Can a better use be made of fortune or leisure? It has been said concerning the organization of the Greenwich Observatory that the essentially practical and utilitarian spirit of the English is manifested also in science, since all the labor in Greenwich is directed toward a special purpose, the incessant improvement of that portion of astronomy that renders so great service to navigation. ”

“ The various rooms that were formerly occupied by the royalty, are now devoted to the use of an extensive picture-gallery. GREENWICH OBSERVATORY, Greenwich, England.—Greenwich Observatory is situated six miles from London Bridge, on a hill one hundred and eighty feet high, in the centre of Greenwich Park. It marks the meridian from which English astronomers make their calculations. The correct time for the whole of England is settled here every day at one o'clock P. M.; a large colored ball descends many feet, when the time is telegraphed to the most important towns throughout the country. ”

“ This simply means that the originators of the constellations lived in 40° north latitude, and stars within 40° of their south pole never rose above their horizon, and consequently were never seen, and could not be mapped, by them. In like manner, the star census taken at Greenwich Observatory does not include the whole sky, but leaves a space some 52° in radius round our south pole. Since the latitude of Greenwich is nearly 52° north, stars within that distance of [185] the south pole do not rise above our horizon, and are never seen here. ”

“ Most of our densely-peopled towns and cities, which abound in narrow streets and lanes, are generally unfit for good observatories, unless at an elevated position at their extremities. Public observatories, where a great variety of instruments is used, and where different observers are employed, require buildings of larger dimensions, divided into a considerable number of apartments. The observatory of Greenwich is composed principally of two separate buildings—one of which is the observatory properly so called, where the assistant lives and makes all his observations ”

“ The older astronomy, on the other hand, confined itself to the movements of the heavens so entirely that Bessel, the man whose practical genius revolutionized the science of observation, and whose influence may be traced throughout in Airy's great reconstitution of Greenwich Observatory, denied that anything but the study of the celestial movements had a right to the title of astronomy at all. Hardly more than sixty years ago he wrote:
'What astronomy is expected to accomplish is evidently at all times the same. ”

“ Flamsteed, one of the leading astronomers of the day, was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1675, with the definite object of producing a new catalogue of star positions, tide tables, and other nautical data. He immediately founded the Greenwich observatory, which has supplied the world with data for the navigator. ”

“ In science he became a devotee of astronomy, and for a time maintained a private observatory in his house at Molesey. He further did much to promote astronomical study in Great Britain by presenting Greenwich Observatory with some of the finest instruments now among its equipment, his gifts including a photoheliograph of 9-in. aperture; a 30-in. reflecting telescope, and a large refracting telescope having an object-glass of 26-in. ”

“ John Flamsteed's (1646-1719) "old white house" was the first Greenwich observatory. He was the Astronomer Royal and first head of this observatory.
[134] It seems a pity that De Morgan should not have lived to lash those of our time who are demanding only the immediately practical in mathematics. His satire would have been worth the reading against those who seek to stifle the science they pretend to foster.
[135] Ismael Bouillaud, or Boulliau, was born in 1605 and died at Paris in 1694. He was well known as an astronomer, mathematician, and jurist. ”

“ For public use there are a series of end-standards exposed on the outer wall of Greenwich observatory; and a length of 100 feet, and another of 66 feet (1 chain) , marked on brass plates let into the granite step along the back of Trafalgar Square. As this is a practically invariable earth-fast standard, and most convenient for reference, it is important to know the minute errors of it, as determined by the Standards Department. ”

“ The general public is apt to lay stress rather on the first than on the second, and to think it rather a reproach to Greenwich that it has taken no part in such explorations. Experience has, however, shown that they may be safely left to amateur activity, whilst the monotonous drudgery of the observation of minor planets can only be properly carried out in a permanent institution.
The observation of these minute bodies with the transit circle and altazimuth is attended with some difficulties; but precise observations of various objects may be made with an equatorial ”