The Octagon Room at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Francis Place

Interior view of the main observing room at the old Royal Observatory building, known as the star chamber or octagon room. The view shows three astronomers at work, one at a table making notes while two others use a quadrant (left) and a refracting telescope (right) to view the sky through open windows. At the back of the room are three inset clocks including (A and B) the pair of timekeeping instruments made by Thomas Tompion (1639-1713) for the observatory on the instruction of Sir Jonas Moore. These clocks are now in the British Museum and at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Above them are portraits of Charles II and James, Duke of York, later James II. Plate 2 from Ichnographia speculae Regiae Grenovici exquisite facta (London, 1676) a series of engravings commissioned by Sir Jonas Moore, the leading force in the construction and equipping of the original Royal Greenwich Observatory. The plate bears the inscription: "PROSPECTUS INTRA CAMERAM STELLATAM". Sir Jonas Moore (1617-1679) mathematician and patron of astronomy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1674.

Original: etching. 1676