1 July1998

Greenwich and the Old Royal Observatory
Following a morning of papers, workshops, and portable dome demonstrations, it was time to head to the Thames River by bus where we all packed into a boat and headed to Greenwich and the Old Royal Observatory. After the official IPS98 group photograph with historic Flamsteed House as a background, it was time to hike up the hill to see it in person. The house was built for 17th century Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed, a contemporary of Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley

Not only is Greenwich famous for the Observatory, but it is also home to the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House (which was the model for the White House in Washington, D.C.), the Royal Naval College, the trading ship Cutty Sark, the Gypsy Moth IV and the Fan Museum. (photo: Tom Callen)

"The Millennium Starts Here"
Being the 0° Prime Meridian, the Old Royal Observatory already has an active campaign underway promoting the Millennium and the year 2000. Standing at the entrance to the Observatory exhibitions is John French (Corsicana, Texas and one of the host for the 1998 Digistar Users Group meeting in September). (photo: Tom Callen)

Planetarians, planetarians everywhere and not a star to be seen...
Believe it or not, but the majority of the people seen in this view are planetarians from one facility or another around the world. The greatest number in this view are clustered around the marker in the pavement marking the 0° Prime Meridian, where there was, as you can imagine, a lot of picture-taking activity. A digital clock (located in the black square above the white door) ticks off the remaining time to the year 2000. (photo: Tom Callen)

Walking the Line
This is not a view of IPS Past-President Jim Manning trying out for the next summer Olympics. Rather he's walking down the Prime Meridian with both feet simultaneously in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Above the doorway can be seen the digital clock counting down the time until the year 2000. (photo: Tom Callen)

Quaintest Planetarium Building in the World?
How would you like to come to work in this beautiful building everyday? This is the planetarium at the Old Royal Observatory; as you might guess the theater is located under the dome on the very top.

The small, smoke-colored glass dome on the ground to the right houses the surviving piece of William Herschel's 40-foot telescope that was once located outside of London in Slough. (photo: Tom Callen)

"Are You Reeling in the Years?"
Seeing the interior of this Spitz planetarium brought back a lot of personal memories for me as my second planetarium (at SUNY Oswego) was very similar to it. Here the IPS delegates were treated to a special show on navigation, plus the demonstration of a homemade aurora borealis projector. (photo: Tom Callen)

Herschel's Ginat
Following William Herschel's discovery of the planet Uranus on 13 March 1781, King George III was so impressed that he decided that he must have an observatory and an astronomer to go with it. He had Herschel move to Slough, then outside the main of London where he could come and visit for a night and observe the wonders of the then known universe. Otherwise, Herschel was free to pursue his own astronomical interests.

It was there (Slough) that Herschel constructed his famous 20-foot alt-azimuth telescope. This was followed by the 40-footer, the surviving piece of its tube shown here under the protective glass dome next to the planetarium at the Old Royal Observatory. (photo: Tom Callen)

London Calling...
It wouldn't be a trip to London without seeing the world-famous Big Ben tower clock and the Houses of Parliament. On our boat return from Greenwich and the Old Royal Observatory, the pilot of the boat was kind enough to cruise past the tour company's dock so that we could see these two famous landmarks. By pure luck we just happened to be passing at 6:00p.m. (18.00), so we were able to hear Big Ben strike the hour as well as hear it chime its well known melody. (photo: Tom Callen)

Return to Reality
After our tour to the Old Royal Observatory at Greenwich it was time to return to the Conference and the evening's banquet at the New Connaught Rooms. Back to the reality of an international meeting and leaving behind the former world of Flamsteed, Newton and Halley, or looking ahead to the not too distant future and the year 2000.

Unfortunately, this view does not show our intrepid guide on the boat who pointed out various points of interest during our journey to and from Greenwich. I'm sure that it was a talk none of us will soon forget due to some inexplicable problems he was having with the boat's public address system. "Over on your left you can see the famous dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.... THUMP... THUMP... that's better now. St. Paul's was built after the great fire of London on the site of the original church. It was designed... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... it was designed by the architect Christopher Wren and it took 30 years to construct. On the right bank there is a small white building just past that line of trees... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... Originally a warehouse office on the riverside, it's now a very good pub that serves an excellent fish dinner... THUMP... THUMP... can you hear me better now?" In spite of the microphone, he was truly enjoyed by all; every tour guide should be so much fun to listen to and be so informative. (photo: Tom Callen)