Astronomy & time galleries
The award-winning Time galleries, featuring John Harrison's celebrated timekeepers, explore our need for accurate timekeeping and the role it plays in our everyday lives. The galleries are located in the north part of the Observatory site, in Flamsteed House, the Meridian Building and the Great Equatorial Building (see floor plans). Please note that charges apply for this part of the site – see Times and admissions for details and to buy your ticket.
Entrance is FREE to the interactive Weller Astronomy galleries, located in the Astronomy Centre in the south part of the Observatory site. Touch a 4.5 billion year-old meteorite, watch how the universe was formed, unravel the mysteries of the cosmos with help from our on-screen experts, and guide a space mission.
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Watch how the universe was formed, touch a 4.5 billion year-old meteorite, guide a space mission and unravel the mysteries of the universe.
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Find out about two British solutions to the longitude problem, including Harrison's famous chronometers. -
Explore the history of the development of accurate timekeeping, including the story of the Greenwich Time Lady. -
Come and watch our horology conservators at work and learn about the provision of accurate timekeepers for the Navy. -
Find out about the role of timekeeping in our everyday lives. -
The original Observatory building designed by Christopher Wren includes the Octagon Room and Astronomers' apartments. -
Artist Matthew Luck Galpin uses his blacksmithing skills to rework meteorites by heating, hammering, grinding and polishing them into mirrors. -
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the telescope, this exhibition explores some aspects of its history. -
The Camera Obscura uses a lens to project a real-time moving panorama of Greenwich inside a darkened room. -
The Altazimuth Pavilion was built in 1899 to house instruments for measuring the coordinates used to fix the position of a celestial body in the sky.