a solution to the longest huge problem. the first astronomer to end a service for the king in the navy was john flamsteed night after night for more than forty years he studied the stars in the sky over a grand each flamsteed recorded his observations in a unique book his atlas gillespie s was the most precise astronomical work of his day but he too was unable to provide a definitive solution to the problem of determining long if you did sing. what was a captain to do on cloudy night how could he fix his position on days when the moon was changing. the long and you problem was to puzzle the seafaring nations for almost another hundred years today in the age of satellite navigation night after night a laser beam sabs as a reminder of the prime meridian which is an imaginary line that circles the globe from greenwich. queen s house is the oldest building in greenwich