Nautical Almanac Office
Located at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
later at Taunton
1714 the Longitude Act was passed by Parliament; a Board of Longitude was established to examine the problem of determining longitude at sea.
1766 the first edition of the nautical almanac was produced, containing data dedicated to the convenient determination of longitude at sea - this was published as "The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris".
19th century: the Almanac fell into disrepute and became notorious for its errors.
1818 Thomas Young (1773-1829) was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac.
1828 when the Board of Longitude was abolished, the Almanac came directly under the Board of the Admiralty, and Young continued as Superintendent and scientific adviser to the Admiralty.
1828 the Nautical Almanac Act was passed
1831 Young was followed by W. S. Stratford (1791-1853).
1831-32 The Nautical Almanac Office was established within the Royal Observatory as a separate institution.
1914 After a redesign, The "Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris, Part I" (containing the astro-navigational data) became known as "The Nautical Almanac Abridged for the Use of Seamen" and then as "The Abridged Nautical Almanac" from 1952. Part II was also published separately between 1896 and 1930.
1949 Plans to move to Herstmonceux had been delayed by shortage of accommodation for the staff.
1949 Developed a special star almanac for the use of land surveyors. Assembling information on practical navigational techniques and of first-hand knowledge of the dependence of accurate observations upon conditions, instruments, experience and other factors. Also, the Office designed methods and tables for astronomical navigation in polar regions for use in air navigation. The Office was responsible for the computations needed for the latticing of Admiralty charts for use with the Decca system of navigation; had completed the few remaining charts required for the English chain and was also working on the Danish chain. Two new chains — the South Western and the North Western — were being set up in Great Britain.[1]
1958 The Nautical Almanac Office and the US Naval Observatory began to jointly publish a unified "Nautical Almanac", for use by the navies of both countries. At this time the official titles were redesigned and unified under the titles "The Astronomical Ephemeris and The Nautical Almanac".
2006 Became part of the UK Hydrographic Office based at Taunton in Somerset.
2010 "The Office produces astronomical data suitable for a wide range of users, including professional and amateur astronomers, mariners, aviators, surveyors, the Armed Forces, the Police, lawyers, religious groups, architects, schools, diary and calendar manufacturers, photographers and film crews."
See Also
- [1] The National Almanac
Sources of Information
- ↑ Engineering 1949/10/14
- National Archives [2]