| 1827 | Dionysius Lardner is appointed as UCL's first Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy. |
| 1925 | The Wilson 24" reflector is offered to the University of London |
| 1928 | Observatory building commenced July. L.N.G. Filon appointed Honorary Director (1928-1937); C.C.L. Gregory appointed Wilson Observer (1928-1950) |
| 1929 | 'University of London Observatory', ULO, opened by Sir Frank Dyson (Oct 8) |
| 1930 | H.R. Fry donates his 1862, 8" Cooke refractor to the Observatory (January), together with funds for a dome to house it (erected 1931). |
| 1934 | The Radcliffe twin 24"/18" telescope is offered to the Observatory, and accepted 1935 |
| 1937 | Radcliffe building commenced. |
| 1938 | Building completed June, opened July 1 by Sir Harold Spencer Jones; C.C.L. Gregory appointed first Director (1938-1950) |
| 1939–1945 | Radcliffe decommissioned during WWII |
| 1940 | Mr Fred Perren visits the Observatory, July 20 |
| 1943 | Perren dies, leaving the bulk of his estate to the University of London for the furtherance of astronomy |
| 1946 | Radcliffe recommissioned. The Joynson telescope (1863 6" Cooke refractor) is moved from the UCL courtyard to Mill Hill, after suffering wartime damage. It is used for daytime training & laboratory experiments. |
| 1948 | E.M. Peachey-Burbidge appointed Assistant Director (1948–1951) |
| 1951 | Management of ULO passes to UCL (Aug 1), although the name is unchanged, and administration of the Perren Fund remains with the University of London. The UCL Dept. of Astronomy is created, with C.W. Allen as the first Perren Professor and second Director of the Observatory (1951–1972). |
| 1952 | P.A. Sweet appointed Assistant Director (1952–1959) |
| 1959 | R.H. Garstang appointed Assistant Director (1959–1966) |
| 1965 | Observatory Annexe (Dawes Lane) acquired |
| 1966 | D. McNally appointed Assistant Director (1966–1986) |
| 1972 | Robert Wilson (Professor Sir Robert Wilson, CBE, FRS) appointed Perren Professor & third Director of ULO. Departments of Astronomy and of Physics merge. Astrophysics research activities start to migrate from ULO to Bloomsbury. |
| 1974 | Original Wilson telescope is decommissioned (now on loan to Merseyside Museums), and replaced by the Allen, a new 24" reflector by Ealing Beck. |
| 1975 | Allen Telescope formally opened May 22 by D.W.N. Stibbs A spectrograph for the Allen is designed & built by M.M. Dworetsky. |
| 1981 | Fry Telescope decommissioned for repair & refurbishment, temporarily replaced by the Joynson. |
| 1986 | Robert Wilson becomes Head of Department of Physics & Astronomy (1986–1994), appoints Derek McNally to the ULO Directorship (1986–1997, separating the Directorship from the Perren Chair). |
| 1991 | New computerised control system installed for the Allen telescope; first use of a CCD camera at ULO, on the Allen spectrograph. |
| 1994 | David Williams appointed Perren Professor (1994–2002). First CCD camera on the Radcliffe; its electronic control system is also commissioned (developed by Peter Thomas with support from Chris Clarke) |
| 1996 | M.M. Dworetsky appointed Acting Director, ULO (Oct 1) |
| 1997 | Mike Dworetsky appointed fifth Director, ULO (Oct 1; 1997–2008). Fry telescope refurbishment completed. |
| 1999 | Observatory Annexe sold as planetary-sciences research activities migrate to Bloomsbury, where John Guest moves to the Dept. of Geological Sciences (1999 Aug 1). |
| 2000 | Building works completed under the direction of Dr Peter Thomas provides a new structure on the Observatory's southern perimeter to house three telescopes (including the restored Fry refractor and a Celestron C14), refurbished and expanded classroom areas, and much-needed office and workshop space. |
| 2004 | Ofer Lahav assumes the Perren Chair (February). |
| 2006 | C14 telescope installed in the 'west dome' |
| 2008 | Ian Howarth appointed sixth Director (Oct 1). For the first time, all Physics students attend ULO. |
| 2009 | Bandwidth to Bloomsbury upgraded from 2 to 10Mb/s. Second C14 telescope obtained (for 'east dome') |
| 2010 | July 21, acquisition of the first astronomical images obtained by remote operations (student Jakub Bochinski, with supervisor Steve Fossey on site). |
| 2012 | Routine robotic observing comes on-line. Second-year astro students return to Mill Hill for practicals after a lengthy absence (term 2). |
| 2013 | Bandwidth upgrade to 1Gb/s. Affiliation to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers (Jan 24). First fibre-fed astronomical spectrumtaken (of Venus, with a Shelyak spectrograph and fibre coupling by Nic Clarke; Jul 11) |
| 2015 | Formal request to University of London to approve name change to UCL Observatory (reflecting actual practice for more than half a century). Approved by the Board of Trustees of the University of London on 2015 Oct 14. |
| 2015 | Giorgio Savini appointed seventh Director (Oct 1). |
Close
