Latest news with #RoyalObservatory
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Richmond Park is crowned UK's most popular park
Richmond Park has been named the UK's most popular park. The London park topped a study by idealo, which looked at over 50 parks across the country. Key metrics included park ratings, monthly searches, and the number of Instagram and TikTok posts. Richmond Park, known for its open spaces, ancient woodlands, and deer herds, received an average rating of 4.7 out of 5. The park also featured in more than 503,000 Instagram posts and nearly 10,000 TikToks. Following Richmond Park was Hyde Park, another well-loved London park, which scored an average of 4.6 out of 5. As the most searched-for park in the UK, Hyde Park sees 450,000 monthly Google searches. The park, a favourite on social media, is featured in over 104,000 Instagram posts and 12,000 TikToks. Greenwich Park was ranked third, with visitors rating it 4.6 out of 5. The park is appreciated for its picturesque picnic spots, views over London's skyline, historic landmarks like the Royal Observatory, and well-kept gardens. Online, it has been featured in 250,000 Instagram posts and nearly 7,000 TikToks. Other parks in the top ten include Sefton Park in Liverpool, Hampstead Heath in London, Heaton Park in Manchester, Victoria Park in Bath, Roundhay Park in Leeds, Sutton Park in Birmingham, and Weston Park in Sheffield. These parks have been recognised for their unique offerings and popularity both on the ground and online. With the promise of warm weather, thousands are expected to flock to these popular parks for picnics this summer. As such, park-goers are advised to familiarise themselves with local park rules to avoid potential fines. Common activities such as playing loud music could lead to fines of up to £300 in some areas. The study also revealed that Reading is the best city in the UK for a picnic, earning a score of 8.21 out of 10. The full study, which provides further insights into the UK's favourite parks and picnic spots, can be viewed on idealo's website. With the summer months ahead, these parks are set to remain bustling hubs of activity, offering a mix of natural beauty, history, and community spirit for all to enjoy in the heart of the city.
Metro
13-05-2025
- Climate
- Metro
What was the Flower Moon and when will the next one be?
May's full moon – known as the 'Flower Moon' – dazzled people across the UK last night. Also referred to as 'Planting Moon' or 'Milky Moon', it was at its most visible at 5.56pm. Amazed by the phenomenon, starwatchers took to social media to share pictures of the luminous orb rising above rooftops and trees – and they did not disappoint. From London's skyline to Cambridgeshire's Ely Cathedral, the display drew people to their windows for hours. The moon looked much brighter than usual due to the clear skies offering excellent weather conditions. It was visible across much of the Northern Hemisphere and Nasa alerted people to the cosmic wonder: 'Look up tonight for the Full Flower Moon named after the abundance of blossoms that fill the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year.' The 'Flower Moon' is the name given to May's full moon, a term rooted in Native American and Old English traditions. It reflects the time of year when wildflowers are in full bloom across the Northern Hemisphere. Every full moon in May carries this name, while full moons in other times of the year have different ones. The 'Flower Moon' became forming in the early afternoon until reached its peak just before 6pm. Nasa said the satellite planet will appear full for a couple of days before it moves into its next phase. As it begins its journey back toward the sun, the opposite side of the moon now reflects its light. The lighted side appears to shrink, but the moon's orbit is simply carrying it out of view from our perspective. Unfortunately, there will not be another full moon in May, which means that people will have to wait another whole year to witness a 'Flower Moon'. More Trending The next full moon – referred to as known as 'Strawberry Moon' – falls on June 11, according to the Royal Observatory. In North America, the harvesting of strawberries in June gives that month's full moon its name. Europeans have dubbed it the rose moon, while other cultures named it the hot moon for the beginning of the summer heat. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Huge chunk of Soviet rocket may have broken up over southern England MORE: Lego has a new space shuttle set and this one comes with its own private jet MORE: Elon Musk reveals terrifying reason Mars is 'life insurance for humanity'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Literal time ladies used to sell people a look at their watches
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways What's the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you'll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci's hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It's your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you'll love the show. FACT: People used to pay to learn the time By Rachel Feltman I recently came across the story of Ruth Belville, known as the 'Greenwich Time Lady,' because she literally sold people time. Or at least she sold people the time. Back in 1675, King Charles II founded the Royal Observatory 'in order to the finding out of the longitude of places for perfecting navigation and astronomy.' He asked for a small observatory to be built at the highest point in Greenwich Park. Almost a century later, the royal astronomer published the first Nautical Almanac, which shared the observatory's findings with seafarers all over the world and allowed them to pinpoint their longitude. That meant people all over were using Greenwich as the starting point from which they measured their longitude. Up until the Industrial Revolution, every town had kept its own local time based on the position of the sun, so there was, for example, a 16 minute difference between London and Plymouth. Railways meant it suddenly made a difference if you were 16 minutes off all the time. And telegraphs meant there was an actual way to share what time it was. Greenwich Mean Time wouldn't become legally mandated until 1880, apparently because folks kept showing up late to court and blaming their local time zone for the discrepancy. But accurate clocks weren't yet common for most people to own. So how did everyone keep up with the newly standardized time? If they lived within sight of the Royal Observatory, they could watch for the 'time balls' they dropped to mark the hour (and later the clock kept up to date at the observatory's gates). But others turned to a more… hands-on service. Starting in 1836, a former Royal Observatory employee named John Belville charged people an annual fee to use his pocket watch. Once a week, he'd come by and visit them and share the time on his watch—which he kept accurate thanks to his access to the observatory's chronometers—so they could adjust their own watches accordingly. John died in 1856, by which time the gate clock showed the public the time and anyone could get the time via telegraph if they really needed to. But John's 200 subscribers knew and trusted the pocket watch system, so they asked his widow Maria if she'd take up his mantle. She did so for 36 years before retiring. By the time she left the business, people definitely had other ways of accessing the time. But folks couldn't give up their trusty time lady, so John and Maria's daughter Ruth took over. Despite the continued advancement of time-keeping tech—and the naysaying of at least one ruthless hater—she kept up the business until 1940. She was 86 when she retired, and apparently only did so because World War II made it too dangerous for a woman of her age to walk the streets. FACT: Bugs have culture, too By SciAnts I love thinking about what bugs think about. New research shows that fruit flies are capable of social learning in ways that resemble what we call culture. In one study, flies developed mating preferences simply by watching other flies make choices—preferring mates with specific colors of dust that had been used to mark them. In another experiment, observer flies that watched others react to predators developed lasting behavioral and physiological changes, including changes to their reproductive systems—despite never encountering the predator themselves. This visually transmitted fear response was strong enough to persist for days. Even exposure to dead members of their own species shortened their lifespan, while exposure to dead relatives from different species had no effect. These findings suggest that fruit flies not only learn by observation but may also pass on preferences and fears in ways that go beyond simple instinct, hinting at a primitive form of culture. FACT: Traffic mimes make jams more peaceful in South America By Jess Boddy Road rage can be truly terrifying, and sometimes it feels inescapable in big cities. But what if the answer to the violence and danger that comes with angry drivers was a nonverbal fellow in stripes and white face paint? Yes… MIMES. Back in Colombia in the 1990s, then-mayor Antanas Mockus replaced 1,800 traffic cops with just 20 mimes, who used silent performance to mock reckless drivers and praise good behavior. They helped cut traffic deaths by 50% within a few years. The program ended in the late '90s but was so beloved it still lives on today, having inspired similar efforts in other South American countries, including Bolivia's 'traffic zebras.' Listen to this week's episode to hear all about how mimes mocked angry drivers successfully, and how it might (or might not) be the answer to road rage here in the United States.
The Guardian
29-03-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Skygazers gather across northern hemisphere to glimpse partial solar eclipse
People across the northern hemisphere have gathered to catch a glimpse of the partial solar eclipse. The eclipse peaked in London at about 11am on Saturday and was visible in parts of the UK between about 10am and noon. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth. As the three are not completely aligned, only 30-40% of the Sun was obscured when viewed from the UK. Robert Massey, the deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, speaking from the town of Lewes, Sussex, said: 'There's a really nice crowd of people, everybody's really excited. There's people wearing eclipse glasses, looking through the telescopes we've got set up. 'We're loving it and it's a lot of fun. It's a great public atmosphere, it's a really nice event. There's a huge amount of enthusiasm about it.' Massey added: 'As expected, the moon started moving in front of the Sun about an hour ago; it's got a bit under an hour to go and it's blocking out some of the Sun.' Skygazers across a broad swathe of the northern hemisphere had a chance to see the moon appear to take a bite out of the sun as the eclipse swept from eastern Canada to Siberia. Imo Bell, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said at 11.15am: 'There's been nothing unexpected, but that's the cool thing, we've known this has been coming for a very long time. 'We have the technology and the understanding of space now to predict these things almost to the second.' 'I've heard a lot of people in the UK where they have higher obscurity have bad cloud coverage, though. If you've got good weather, you're pretty lucky.' Jake Foster, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory, said: 'These eclipses, whether they be partial or total, it is effectively watching the clockwork of the solar system in action.' The Met Office said earlier on Saturday that southern and eastern areas of the UK would have the best viewing conditions, with cloudier skies in the north and west. The partial eclipse, which is the first of the year and the 17th this century, lasted about four hours from 8.50am GMT to 12.43pm GMT. The next partial solar eclipse visible in the UK will be in August 2026, which is expected to reach 90% obscurity. However, it will be visible as a total solar eclipse across much of Europe, including parts of Spain. The next total solar eclipse visible from the UK is in 2090.
Sky News
29-03-2025
- Climate
- Sky News
How to see today's partial solar eclipse from the UK
Why you can trust Sky News Stargazers could catch a glimpse of a partial solar eclipse this morning, where the sun looks like it's had a bite taken out of it. It only occurs a handful of times a year, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, and partly obscures the star. Here's what you need to know for the best chance of seeing it. When is it? It's expected to be visible in the UK from 9.56am to 12.14pm today. For people in the south of England - where the weather means views should be best - the peak of the eclipse is set to be at around 11.03am. This is when the eclipse reaches its "maximum" - the moment when the greatest portion of the sun is hidden. According to the Royal Observatory, the maximum this time will see around 30-40% of the sun obscured. What is the weather meant to be like? Some parts of the UK will see more of the eclipse than others. Northwest Scotland is expected to see the most coverage with 47.9% in Gallan Head. Dover in southwest England is set to see the least coverage of the eclipse with only 28.1% of the sun blocked by the moon, while Manchester is expected to have 36.1% of coverage. Check the forecast where you are Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "The further northwest you are in the UK the more of an eclipse you are likely to have, whereas towards the southeast it's a little bit less - but still 30%, and still a large chunk taken out of the sun." Met Office maps show clear skies across southeast England at the time that the eclipse starts, with partial cloud above Manchester and northwest England, and cloud above most of Scotland. The areas expected to have some of the best eclipse coverage are also likely to see cloud and rain at the time. Conditions are widely meant to clear over the weekend, with temperatures up to 17C in the South East and 14C in the North on Sunday - but it may come slightly too late to have a good view of the sun today. How can I give myself the best chance of seeing it? Even though part of the sun will be covered, its brightness will still be dangerous to the naked eye, so experts say it can cause serious and permanent damage if you look straight at it without appropriate protection. Also: standard sunglasses do not count as protection. If you want more than a quick glance, you can use a pinhole projector or solar eclipse viewing glasses. You can make pinhole projectors at home, simply by making a hole in a piece of card, holding the card up to the sun and holding another piece of paper behind the card. The shape of the sun will appear projected onto the paper, without harming you. Solar eclipse viewing glasses can be purchased online. For those who can't see it in person, the Royal Observatory is streaming the partial eclipse live through one of its modern telescopes on its YouTube channel, with coverage starting from 10am.
