Whether it's observing the stars, standing astride the Prime Meridian or marvelling at John Harrison's timepieces, the Royal Observatory Greenwich provides a treasure trove of fascinating information. Read all about the history of space, time and navigation, plus find out more about the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

06 Apr 2016
Views down the hill
Curator Louise Devoy looks back to Margaret Maskelyne, daughter of the fith Astronomer Royal, who drew watercolours of both the Royal Observatory and the Queen's House
18 Dec 2015
Samuel Pepys and the Royal Observatory
Curator of the Royal Observatory, Louise Devoy, looks at Samuel Pepys's links to our site here in Greenwich.
21 Aug 2015
The Prime Meridian is unmoved
In August 2015 a paper was published by scientists in the US explaining why the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory Greenwich is 102 metres to the west of the prime meridian used by satellite based navigation and timekeeping, known as the International Reference Meridian or IRM. The paper created quite a stir in the media.
Constellations
The 88 constellations act as a handy map of the skies and a seasonal calendar used from ancient times. But what connects the stars in the same constellation?
What was the bright object I saw in the sky last night?
Is it a star, is it a planet or is it a plane? A handy guide to identifying that bright object you saw last night.
What is the Prime Meridian and why is it in Greenwich?
Why was Greenwich chosen as the home of the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time, and what do those terms mean?
Telescopes
With a telescope we can see billons of miles and travel effortlessly back billions of years in time.
Meridian astronomy
Meridian astronomy is the meticulous surveying of the stars so that positions and movements of stars can be known accurately.
Astronomy in the 19th century
19th-century astronomers went beyond cataloguing the skies to understanding their composition and predicting what could not be seen.
Airy's Transit Circle and the dawn of the Universal Day
The story of Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy and the remarkable Airy Transit Circle telescope he designed at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.