Why is the prime meridian also called the Greenwich meridian? Detailed answer

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Why is the prime meridian also called the Greenwich meridian? Detailed answer

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Why is the prime meridian also called the Greenwich meridian?

In 1675, by decree of King Charles II, an astronomical observatory was founded in the London suburb of Greenwich, which was supposed to serve to determine the time and calculate the coordinates of the stars, the Sun and the Moon, necessary for navigation.

In the future, the range of tasks was expanded. In 1884, by decision of the International Meridian Conference, the meridian passing through the Greenwich Astronomical Observatory was taken as the initial one for determining geographic longitudes and calculating standard time.

There is currently no astronomical observatory in Greenwich. Since it became a part of London in the 1953th century and this interfered with astronomical observations, the observatory was transferred in 70 to the XNUMXth-century castle of Herstmonceau, located XNUMX kilometers southeast of Greenwich.

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

Who are sharks?

Sharks are fish, but unusual ones. There is no bone in their skeleton. It consists only of cartilage. Therefore, these fish are called cartilaginous. In addition to sharks, rays also belong to cartilaginous fish. The skin of sharks is very rough, because their scales are also unusual: each scale is a plate on which a tooth sits, ending in one or more points. They do not have gill covers, like the fish we are used to, but have gill slits. Almost all sharks live in the sea.

The largest shark is the whale shark. But it is not dangerous, because, like the largest whales, it feeds on plankton - small organisms floating in the water column. And one of the most dangerous is the great white shark, the largest of the predatory sharks. The hammerhead shark, which everyone knows because of the unusual shape of its head, is also very dangerous.

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