The observatory where the length was discovered and the theory of relativity tested reopen its valves to the sky



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The onion dome, built to house the huge equatorial telescope, was initially covered with papier mâché. It was damaged by bombs twice during the Second World War.

After 60 years of closing their gates to look at the sky, astronomers will return to the Royal Observatory of Greenwich (ROG) to explore the sky. firmament

The historic home of British astronomy that King Charles II ordered to build in 1675 in the hope that distant stars would save ships and lives, became a museum after 1957, when the scientists withdrew.

The place that is perhaps best known for marking the longitude to zero degrees, will again be a site where to look for "the hidden treasures in the heavens, which are so rich that the spirit Human will never suffer from nutrients, "said mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Johannes Kepler


.

In the United Kingdom, Charles II named John Flamsteed his "astronomical observer," after showing him that the best available star catalog, that of Tycho Brahe, was subject to errors up to several hundred kilometers.


Providing the necessary data, he says, would require years of observation with large instruments equipped with telescopic sights.

The king then instructed him to apply with the greatest attention and diligence to the rectification of the Tables of the Movements of the Heavens and the Places of the Fixed Stars, in order to discover the Longitude of Place so much desired to perfect the art of navigation. "

Three months later, on June 22, 1675, he issued a new order for the construction of the observatory at Greenwich, designed by one of the greats of British architecture: Christopher Wren

There Flamsteed spent the rest of his life and, despite his poor health and low pay, took over 50,000 observations

Having been the site where the possibility of determining the location of a place on Earth to the east or west of a north-south line was made exactly the same as Greenwich's home of the main meridian.

Professionals, amateurs and schoolchildren of the twenty-first century will continue to write the history of the Greenwich Observatory

Their instruments will be available to all, including the astronomical telescope Annie Maunder, which are actually four devices. in one.


Users will be able to study the Sun and the planets in our solar system, but also look beyond the farthest stars and large clouds of gas and dust known as of planetary nebulae.


Source: BBC World

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