Astronomy Trip To The Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Year 9 and 10 Astronomy GCSE students recently visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich to discover its importance in the history of astronomy. The observatory is, of course, famous for the Greenwich meridian from where longitude is measured f. The brass line in the courtyard is, however, not in the current location of the meridian used by modern navigation systems. The current true 0° longitude lies 102.5m east of this in Greenwich Park, and using a GPS we found the true meridian and lined up along it, one foot in the east and one foot in the west.

In the observatory grounds we were perfectly in time to hear about the time ball and its importance for ships to set their time pieces before heading out to sea. The ball rose half way up its mast five minutes before one o’clock and to the top at 2 minutes to go. At precisely 1 o’clock the ball dropped and the ship captains below in the Thames would set their clocks.

We then found John Harrison’s clocks. These clocks were the first to accurately keep time at sea, essential for determining longitude. He dedicated his life to developing these clocks and his invention saved countless lives He eventually won a £25,000 prize from the government! His H4 clock (pictured) is one of the most important instruments ever made.

We also had a look at the Great Equatorial Telescope and the Camera Obscura before our booked planetarium show to learn more about the solar system, galaxies and the universe. This was a very informative and beautiful show but also very relaxing and several students (and staff!) may have dozed off briefly!!

This is the first time we have made this trip and the students had a wonderful time. The experience was perfect for bringing their classwork to life.