Royal Observatory

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  • Phone
    0870 781 5189
  • Website
  • Transport
    secondary rail: Cutty Sark
train: Greenwich

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Lonely Planet review

In 1675 Charles II had the Royal Observatory built on a hill in the middle of the Greenwich Park, intending that astronomy be used to establish longitude at sea. The Octagon Room, designed by Wren, and the nearby Sextant Room are where John Flamsteed (1646-1719), the first astronomer royal, made his observations and calculations.

The globe is divided between east and west at the Royal Observatory, and in the Meridian Courtyard you can place one foot either side of the meridian line and straddle the two hemispheres.

Every day at the red time ball at the top of the Royal Observatory continues to drop as has done since 1833. You can still get great views of Greenwich and spy on your fellow tourists at the same time by visiting the unique Camera Obscura. An ambitious £15 million project has added four new galleries exploring astronomy and time, including one on the search for longitude.

The 120-seat state-of-the-art Peter Harrison Planetarium (tel: 8312 8565 ;hourly shows - Mon-Fri, - Sat & Sun), which opened just south of the Royal Observatory in June 2007, has an around £1 million digital laser projector that can show entire heavens on the inside of its bronze-clad roof and is the most advanced in Europe. Along with the theme shows, there are galleries tracing the history of astronomy and interactive displays on such subjects the effects of gravity.