Greenwich, << GREHN ihch, GREHN ihj, or GRIHN ihj, >> Observatory, Royal, was founded in 1675 by Charles II of England. It was established to locate the positions of the stars, moon, and sun more accurately and thereby improve navigation at sea. The observatory was originally in Greenwich (now a borough of London). In 1948, it began moving its operations to Herstmonceux Castle, near Eastbourne, finishing the move in the 1950’s. It moved to Cambridge in 1990 and closed in 1998.
In 2017, a successful campaign was launched to raise funds to restore the observatory and the building in which it was housed. The observatory was also outfitted with a new telescope. The telescope was named after Annie Maunder, who was hired in 1891 as one of the first female scientists to work at the observatory. Beginning in 2018, the Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope (AMAT) made observations to support various astrophysics research. The images and data are shared with local schools and made available to the public. The Royal Greenwich Observatory continues to operate a museum and public outreach center for astronomy.
The Greenwich meridian, the north-south line from which longitude is commonly measured, passes through the original observatory site, now occupied by a museum. Until 1971, the director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory held the title astronomer royal.
