News and Press

The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich has acquired a rare and very special uniform and manuscript from the descendants of a former Naval Midshipman called Charles Hare. Hare was a teenage prisoner in Napoleonic France who successfully escaped by disguising himself as an officer in the French Imperial Customs Service (Les Douanes). This never seen before uniform went on display today in the Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery at the National Maritime Museum ahead of Trafalgar Day on Oct 21.

2025 at Royal Museums Greenwich will see the opening of a new major exhibition Pirates in March, which traces the changing depictions of pirates through the ages. The Royal Observatory Greenwich will be celebrating its 350th anniversary with a year-long calendar of public events including activities, talks and special planetarium shows. The mesmerising Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition will return to the National Maritime Museum in September, displaying another year of breath-taking space images.

The overall winner of Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 is Ryan Imperio for his photograph, Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, that captures the progression of Baily’s beads during the 2023 annular eclipse.

On Wednesday 17 July 2024, Professor Mark Thomson met with Lucy Cooke, Head of Development and Events, and Liz Avery, Deputy Head of Astronomy at the Royal Observatory Greenwich to discuss plans for redevelopment at the Observatory, which marks its 350th anniversary in 2025.

Awe-inspiring scenes of the Milky Way, dancing aurorae and serene galaxies are all features of the shortlist for this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) is teaming up with Royal Parks for a celebration of World Oceans Day taking place across Greenwich Park on 8 June 2024. Visitors can follow a trail across the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory Greenwich to discover a range of activities for all ages. The National Maritime Museum is home to hundreds of years of seafaring history, from the vast Pacific to the icy Artic and Antarctic Oceans. This World Oceans Day event will offer visitors a chance to dive into the past, present, and future of our blue planet.

Only two weeks are left to enter the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine.