The Greenwich Prime Meridian is one of the iconic features of the Royal Museums Greenwich. Visitors to the Museum even queue up to pose with one leg on either side of the Line. Yet, the Airy Transit Circle, the instrument that defined the meridian, is almost always excluded from these photographs. This paper examines how the instrument has become hidden in plain sight within the stories of Greenwich Time and Greenwich Meridian, as well as within the public imagination, by providing an analysis of the instrument’s transformation from a working astronomical instrument to a museum object. The paper highlights the gradual decoupling of the instrument from narratives of Time and Longitude, which resulted in the Line’s popularity overshadowing the instrument that defined it. By doing so, the paper aims at showing the symbiotic relationship between the materiality of the instrument and the meridian line that it defined. Approaching the instrument through the lenses of object biographies, the paper raises the question of whether the life of the instrument came to an end once operations with it were terminated. The analysis of the Transit Circle’s life reveals that it reached its end multiple times, which shifts the emphasis away from a single and ultimate end of scientific objects to a process of gradual downfall, during which they can “end” several times. In addition, through the object biography approach, the Transit Circle no longer appears as a dead object reaching an afterlife within a museum setting. Instead, the approach demonstrates that, though the instrument can still be restored to an operational order, doubts about its accuracy, and its relevancy to today’s astronomical methods, have led the instrument to be considered obsolete, transforming it into a museum object on display.

Observatories offer a good possibility for serial transnational applications. For example one can choose groups like baroque or neoclassical observatories, solar physics observatories or a group of observatories equipped with the same kind of instruments or made by famous firms. I will discuss what has been achieved and show examples, like the route of astronomical observatories, the transition from classical astronomy to modern astrophysics. I will also discuss why the implementation of the World Heritage & Astronomy initiative is difficult and why there are problems to nominate observatories for election in the national tentative lists.

Studies of the astronomical heritage can deal with the ancient astronomical knowledge, traditions and myths, as well as with old instruments and observatories. It is urgent to work for their recovery, before they are definitely forgoten, lost or destroyed. On the cultural side, the Joint ALMA Observatory is sponsoring the study of the local cosmology and sky of the indigenous people living in the region where ALMA is currently being build. In the case of ancient instruments, several success stories already exist, the most recent one being the reconstruction of the Madrid 25ft Herschel telescope. Examples of notable instruments pending reconstruction are listed.

We present the results of the ICOMOS international symposium “Cultural Heritage of Astronomical Observatories (around 1900) – From Classical Astronomy to Modern Astrophysics” (Oct. 2008). The objective of the symposium was to discuss the relevance of modern observatories to the cultural heritage of humankind and to select partner observatories which, due to the date of their construction or to their architectural or scientific importance are comparable to Hamburg Observatory, as international cooperation partners for a serial trans-national application.

They came to the Big Island from as far away as Murrumbeena, Australia, and as near by as Hilo, Hawaii. They were progeny of Scottish coal miners, French physicists, Chicago truck drivers, Japanese samurai and Big Island cane workers. Together, these men and women would build and commission one of the most dynamic and productive 3.6 meter telescopes in the world that remains in the forefront of science and technology. The CFHT oral history DVD preserves the stories of the first decade and a half of the observatory.

Being close to the cities of Puebla to east and Cholula to the north, both having potential for large growth, the National Astronomical Observatory in Tonantzintla (OAN-Tonantzintla) faces the danger of deteriorating its sky conditions even more. In order to maintain competitiveness for education and scientific programs, it is important to preserve the sky brightness conditions. through: 1) our awareness of the night sky characteristics in continuous monitoring campaigns, doing more measurements over the next years to monitor changes and 2) encouraging local authorities about the need to regulate public lighting at the same time, showing them the benefits of such initiatives when well planed and correctly implemented.

The view of the night sky from most of the populated regions of Earth is now seriously compromised by light pollution. An entire generation of citizens is now growing up without ever having the opportunity to gaze upon the magnificent night sky from a dark location. Much of modern astronomy involves study of faint objects, often with brightnesses similar to or fainter than the night sky. Astronomers are therefore extremely vulnerable to increases in sky brightness from light pollution. Despite their remote locations, the dark night skies over the major optical observatories are increasingly threatened by growth of artificial light at night.

Camille Flammarion's observatory, located in Juvisy-sur-Orge in the suburbs of Paris, has been idle since 1962. Property of the Société Astronomique de France (SAF), it was made available to the city of Juvisy-sur-Orge since 1971, and contains a unique collection of objects and books currently being sorted out. The observatory is being restored by the SAF, thanks to the support of the city of Juvisy-sur-Orge, the French Académie des Sciences and the “Amis de Camille Flammarion” association. In 2006, the Maxime Goury Laffont foundation funded the refurbishment of the 240 mm refractor and in 2007 funds were obtained to restore the dome and central building. The main aim of the project is to make this historical place a popular observatory dedicated to astronomy and the sciences which Camille Flammarion enjoyed and contributed to. It constitutes a unique example in France of synergies linking associations, municipality, regional- and national-level institutions.

Many astronomical institutions have budgetary constraints that prevent them from spending large amounts on public outreach. This is especially true for smaller organizations, such as the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), where manpower and funding are at a premium. To maximize our impact, we employ unconventional and affordable outreach techniques that underscore our commitment to astronomy education and our local community. We participate in many unique community interactions, ranging from rodeo calf-dressing tournaments to art gallery exhibitions of CFHT images. Further, we have developed many creative methods to communicate complex astronomical concepts to both children and adults, including the use of a modified webcam to teach infrared astronomy and the production of online newsletter for parents, children, and educators. This presentation will discuss the outreach methods CFHT has found most effective in our local schools and our rural community.

The Islamic society has great ties to astronomy. Its main religious customs (start of the Islamic month, direction of prayer, and the five daily prayers) are all related to two main celestial objects: the Sun and the Moon. First, the start of any Islamic month is related to the actual seeing of the young crescent after the new Moon. Second, the direction of prayer, i.e., praying towards Mecca, is related to the determination of the zenith point in Mecca. Third, the proper time for the five daily prayers is related to the motion of the Sun. Everyone in the society is directly concerned by these customs. This is to say that the major impetus for the growth of Islamic astronomy came from these three main religious observances which presented an assortment of problems in mathematical astronomy. To observe these three customs, a new set of astronomical observations were needed and this helped the development of the Islamic observatory. There is a claim that it was first in Islam that the astronomical observatory came into real existence. The Islamic observatory was a product of needs and values interwoven into the Islamic society and culture. It is also considered as a true representative and an integral par of the Islamic civilisation. Since astronomy interested not only men of science, but also the rulers of the Islamic empire, several observatories have flourished. The observatories of Baghdad, Cairo, Córdoba, Toledo, Maragha, Samarqand and Istanbul acquired a worldwide reputation throughout the centuries. This paper will discuss the two most important observatories (Maragha and Samarqand) in terms of their instruments and discoveries that contributed to the establishment of these scientific institutions.

Following the celebrated DVD, Gathering the Forgotten Voices, we have embarked on new interviews of the men and women whose hard work and ingenuity forged the technological breakthroughs that maintained CFHT's preeminence as a world-class observatory. While Gathering the Forgotten Voices emphasized the personal history of those involved with the first decade of deep-space observing, the new DVD explores the CFHT innovation in instrumentation from vision through design to construction. It will chronicle the breakthroughs of the observatory's staff so that that record may serve as a prototype for qualitative research at other technological centers.

The project aims to recover the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Havana (AOUH) for science outreach at the national level, in order to help increasing the interest in science primarily among children and youth.