On the line

On the line: October 2011: Exhibition highlights: Traders

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:26:26 +0000

John McAleer talks about the National Maritime Museum's new permanent gallery.

On the line: August 2011: Special report: Anvilled stars

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:45:41 +0000

Marek Kukula talks with artist and blacksmith Matthew Luck Galpin about his installation at the Royal Observatory, and how it was to work with meteorites.

Download this episode

Where to see asteroid YU55 from Earth

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:26:54 +0000

Find out where the best place to view asteroid YU55 is, and how close it will come to the Earth.

Download this episode

The Maritime Lecture series

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:13:40 +0000

Sara Wajid, Adult Learning Manager, discusses a new lecture series about the making of maritime icons.

Download this episode

On the line: May 2011: Events: Curry and a pint

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:46:28 +0000

Steve Martin reveals how you can sample a wonderful curry and a pint with the NMM, while finding out that this is an older tradition than you may have thought.

Download this episode

On the line: March 2011: Gallery favourites: Jeffrey Hudson, friend and companion to Queen Henrietta

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Ann Stamper tells the story of the life of Jeffrey Hudson, who was friends with a Queen, killed a man who was armed with a water pistol and was kidnapped by pirates.

Download this episode

On the line: April 2011: Anniversary: Yuri Gagarin - the first man in space

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:35:58 +0000

Marek Kukula reveals how the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space is being celebrated, and how you can get involved where you live.

Download this episode

On the line: March 2011: Gallery favourites: 28 inch telescope

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:00:57 +0000

Marek Kukula reveals why the 28-inch telescope is bigger than it sounds.

Download this episode

On the line: March 2011: Observatory lives: Alice Everett, a woman in science

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:49:18 +0000

Rebekah Higgitt reveals the life of Alice Everett, one of the first paid women to work at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

Download this episode

On the line: February 2011: Anniversary: Chinese New Year Celebrations at the National Maritime Museum

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:00:57 +0000

Steve Martin reveals how Chinese New Year will be celebrated at the NMM, and invites you to come and join in.

Download this episode

On the line: February 2011: Gallery favourites: Bradley's Zenith Sector

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:00:17 +0000

Marek Kukula reveals how an object that looks like a copper drainpipe proved that the Earth is moving through space.

Download this episode

On the line: January 2011: Object in focus: Shaving at sea

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:18:46 +0000

Amy Miller takes a look at a portable shaving table thought to have been a gift from Nelson.

Download this episode

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:40:52 +0000

Jude Holland reveals some of her favourite images in the Waterline exhibition.

Download this episode (Flash video)

Download this episode (mp4 video)

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:15:30 +0000

Richard Espley traces sailor Walter Palmer through the Museum’s records.

Download this episode (Flash video)

Download this episode (mp4 video)

On the line: December 2010: Gallery Favourites: Astronomia

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:37:08 +0000

Marek Kukula reveals another of his favourite objects, but this time it’s not inside the Museum.

Download this episode

On the line: December 2010: Object in focus: The regulator that kept Gibraltar on time

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:30:46 +0000

Rory McEvoy talks about the astronomical regulator in Greenwich that controlled the timeball in Gibraltar.

Download this episode

On the line: December: Observatory lives: James Glacier, astronomer and death defying meteorologist

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:19:17 +0000

Rebekah Higgitt reveals how ROG employee James Glaisher had a near-death experience while studying the weather in a balloon.

Download this episode

On the line: November 2010: Special report: Discovering Asian influence

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:39:44 +0000

Gemma Lucas, an intern helping with the development of a new gallery at the NMM, quizzes curator John McAleer about some of the objects that she has discovered.

Download this episode

On the line: November 2010: Gallery Favourites: The planetarium dome

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:43:10 +0000

Marek Kukula reveals another of his favourite objects, which by looking along its slope, appears to reveal the stars rotating.

Download this episode

On the line: November 2010: Exhibition highlights: Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:35:57 +0000

Elizabeth Cunningham reveals how you can get your photographs shown on the Planetarium dome.

Download this episode

On the line: October 2010: Special report: Strange happenings at the National Maritime Museum

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Geraldine Charles reveals why the National Maritime Museum is thought to be a place where strange and spooky things happen.

Download this episode

On the line: October 2010: Big question answered: Halley’s comet, fireballs and Ramadan

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Elizabeth Cunnigham answers more of your questions. This month we find out when Halley’s comet can be seen again, what a fireball was doing in the sky above Ireland and when the end of Ramadan is.

Download this episode

On the line: October 2010: Gallery Favourites: The Gibeon meteor

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Marek Kulula takes a look at another of his favourite objects which will probably be the oldest thing you will ever touch.

Download this episode

On the line: September 2010: Dispatches from…: 19th century sketchbooks and albums

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:21:29 +0000

Richard Johns tells us how sketchbooks recently photographed by the NMM have given us an insight into the world of the 19th-century sailor.

Download this episode

On the line: September 2010: Observatory Lives: Charles Green, Royal Observatory Greenwich assistant and stand in Astronomer Royal

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:16:21 +0000

Rebekah Higgitt reveals how ROG assistant Charles Green became a stand-in Astronomer Royal, and joined Cook on his first voyage to view the transit of Venus in Tahiti.

Download this episode

On the line: September 2010: Gallery Favourites: Viewing the universe

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:03:57 +0000

Marek Kukula discusses how the universe looks very different when viewed with different types of light.

Download this episode

On the Line: August 2010: Gallery favourites: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:53:53 +0000

Cara O'Keeffe narrates the career of artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who in 1871 published darkly realistic etchings of the Thames.

Download this episode

On the line: August 2010: Gallery Favourites: Mars meteor

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:25:27 +0000

Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer, reveals how a rock from Mars came to Earth, and how it possibly had unfortunate consequences for a dog.

Download this episode

onthelineaug10_01.MP3

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:15:43 +0000

Elizabeth Cunningham, Planetarium Astronomer, investigates what time dawn is for Ramadan and how it is measured.

Download this episode

Captain Harvey and the fighting Temeraire

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:29:09 +0000

Ann Stamper tells the story of the hot-tempered Captain Eliab Harvey who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, and the fate of his ship, known as the fighting Téméraire.

Download this episode

onthelinejun10_01.MP3

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:54:21 +0000

Gareth Bellis reveals how many of the objects at the Museum came to call the National Maritime Museum home.

Download this episode

onthelinemay10_02.MP3

Fri, 14 May 2010 12:35:38 +0000

Dan Matthews talks to Marc Chivers about his lovingly-built pilot’s punt now on show in the 'Boats that built Britain' exhibition.

Download this episode

On the line: May 2010: Gallery Favourites: The Watch that Sailed with the 'Bounty'

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:03:42 +0000

Tony Dobson recounts the fantastic journey of the timekeeper K2, including its part in the mutiny on the Bounty.

Download this episode

On the line: April 2010: Gallery Favourites: The HMS Challenger Expedition and Creatures of the Deep

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:05:20 +0000

Karran Danks describes some of the mysterious deep sea creatures brought back by the HMS Challenger expedition of 1872-76.

Download this episode

On the line: April 2010: Anniversary: Admiral Sir James Saumarez hero of the Baltic

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:59:16 +0000

James Davey reveals the career of Admiral Sir James Saumarez, who prevented the outbreak of war between Britain and Sweden during the Napoleonic War.

Download this episode

On the line: March 2010: Gallery Favourites: The War Artists Advisory Committee and Eric Ravilious

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:27:15 +0000

Robert Bidder tells of the too-brief career of the WWII war artist Eric Ravilious, and of his dream-like drawings of life on board submarines.

Download this episode

On the line: March 2010: Observatory lives: Edward Walter Maunder and the science of the Sun at the Royal Observatory

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:21:10 +0000

Becky Higgitt reveals how ROG assistant Edward Walter Maunder influenced climate change research and the debate about life on Mars, through his research into the Sun.

Download this episode

On the line: March 2010: Archive journeys: Pirates and Privateering

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:19:45 +0000

Mike Bevan explores the Museum’s archives to reveal the stories of pirates and privateers held by the Museum, and of how some even became Royal Navy commanders.

Download this episode

On the line: February 2010: Anniversary: The life and death of Captain Cook

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:24:55 +0000

John McAleer marks the anniversary of Captain Cook’s death by revealing how the Yorkshire man helped shape the way contemporary Europeans saw the world.

Download this episode

On the line: January 2010: Object in focus: The battleship HMS 'King George V'

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:53:15 +0000

Quintin Colville tells us about one of his favourite objects, the battleship HMS King George V.

Download this episode

onthelinejan10_1.mp3

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:27:36 +0000

Rebekah Higgitt introduces the ROG assistants and finds out about their lives and work.

Download this episode

On the line: December 2009: Anniversary: Captain Cook discovers Christmas Island

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:00:14 +0000

John McAleer reveals how Christmas Island gained its name despite the lack of tinsel and snow.

Download this episode

On the line: December 2009: Big questions answered: Christmas skies

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:32:56 +0000

Claire Bretherton tells you what to look out for in the night sky this December… apart from Santa.

Download this episode

On the line: December 2009: Dispatches from…: Exploring in a winter wonderland

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:27:49 +0000

Claire Warrior reads extracts from Christmas letters by Arctic explorers and uncovers a festive season that was more enjoyable than you might think.

Download this episode

On the line: November 2009: Archive journeys: Stories of the Georgian navy

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:02:21 +0000

Martin Salmon explores the Museum’s archives from the Georgian navy, uncovering what life was like in the words of those who were there.

Download this episode

On the line: November 2009: Exhibition highlights: A history of scientific photography at the ROG

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:55:01 +0000

Rebekah Higgitt tells us about the work of solar and astronomical photographers at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from the 1840s onwards.

Download this episode

On the line: October 2009: Anniversaries: How Greenwich became the home of the Prime Meridian

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:14:24 +0000

To celebrate the Prime Meridian’s 125th anniversary, Curator of the History of Science Rebekah Higgit reveals why Greenwich became its home.

Download this episode

On the line: October 2009: Special report: The Queen’s House ceiling

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:08:05 +0000

Curator of Prints and Drawings Richard Johns paints a picture of the original Queen’s House ceiling. Listen in to discover how it would have once appeared and why it was given away as a gift.

Download this episode

On the line: October 2009: Dispatches from…: Edward Lear and his voyages down the Nile

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:04:10 +0000

Jenny Gashke, Curator of Fine Art, reveals how Edward Lear, author of The Owl and the Pussycat was inspired by Egypt to draw its people and places.

Download this episode

On the line: September 2009: IYA 2009: The perfect astronomy photo

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:13:51 +0000

Astronomy Photographer of the Year judge Marek Kulula reveals what makes his perfect astronomy photo. So if you’re planning on entering next year’s competition, tune in to pick up some top tips. Photos by Martin Pugh, Nikhil Shahi, Edward Henry and Sarah Gilligan.

Download this episode (Flash video)

Download this episode (mp4 video)

On the line: September 2009: Rare books rediscovered: The Pirate Gow

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:03:51 +0000

Nigel Rigby rediscovers the story of 18th-century pirate John Gow in a rare, and now reprinted, book about his life. Listen in to find out more about Gow’s adventures - and his eventual capture and execution.

Download this episode

On the line: August 2009: Archive journeys: Polar explorers

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:56:13 +0000

Archivist Richard Wragg delves into another Archive Journeys story box from the Museum’s library. Inside are letters, books and other artefacts that reveal more about the lives of polar explorers.

Download this episode (Flash video)

Download this episode (mp4 video)

On the line: August 2009: Big questions answered: Mars and the Moon

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:32:30 +0000

Astronomer Claire Bretherton tackles another of your questions: ‘will Mars look as big as the Moon this month?’ Find out the answer and what else to look out for in the night sky this August.

Download this episode

On the line: August 2009: Gallery favourites: The stellar Cinderella

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:15:36 +0000

Simon Nosworthy relates the extraordinary story of Caroline Herschel, discoverer of comets and nebulae in 18th century England.

Download this episode

On the line: July 2009: IYA 2009: The problem of time travel

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:23:49 +0000

Dan Falk explores the idea of time travel and reveals why scientists don’t rule the possibility out.

Download this episode

On the line: July 2009: Time tales: Aluna – the world's first tidal-powered moon clock

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:09:12 +0000

Join David Rooney to discover more about Aluna, the world's first tidal-powered moon clock. Find out how it works and where its makers plan to build it.

Download this episode

On the line: July 2009: Dispatches from...: Jim McNeill – Arctic explorer

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:05:09 +0000

Jude Holland talks to explorer Jim McNeill and finds out more about his experiences in the far north and his attempt to reach the centre of the Arctic Ocean.

Download this episode

On the line: June 2009: Gallery favourites: Jack Cornwell – a teenager at sea

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:52:14 +0000

Join Karran Danks as she tells the tragic true-life tale of Jack Cornwell, a 16-year-old who joined the Royal Navy in World War I and became one of the youngest people to win the Victoria Cross.

Download this episode

On the line: June 2009: Dispatches from…: Letters to a lost explorer

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:48:23 +0000

Claire Warrior introduces Lady Jane Franklin, wife of polar explorer John Franklin. Listen to extracts from Lady Jane’s letters, and discover more about her husband’s ill-fated expedition to find the North-West Passage.

Download this episode

On the line: June 2009: Telescope stories: Flamsteed’s well telescope

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:44:23 +0000

Find out about Flamsteed’s well telescope - how it worked, what the Royal Observatory’s astronomers hoped to see with it, and whether they succeeded.

Download this episode