|
Kew Meridian |
|
|
There have
been many meridians across the globe and all have now given way to
the International Reference Meridian, 102.5 meters east of the Greenwich
Meridian. This came about when the satellites which were thrown up
during the cold war demonstrated that the Earth was not the shape
geographers had believed. The new line fits better with the more accurate
shape of the Earth. The UK Ordnance Survey is, however, based on the
Greenwich Meridian.
|
| The old Kew observatory in the Old Deer Park Richmond. The building was extended by the wings on the original structure. | |
| There are meridians through Paris, Berlin and the Old Naval Observatory in Washington DC, now the official residence of the Vice President of the United States. Perhaps the most quixotic meridian passes through the Old Kew Observatory in west London, set up by King George the Third, in time to measure the transit of Venus in 1769. The King used the Kew Observatory to set the time at the Houses of Parliament. Harrison's clock H5 was tested at Kew Observatory and the King pushed parliament into paying Harrison the amount of the Longitude prize, in 1773. | |