Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai
Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai is one of the six regional meteorological centres (RMCs) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and is responsible for the weather-related activities of the southern Indian peninsula comprising the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep Islands and Puducherry. The other regional centres are located at Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi. Established in the later part of the 18th century, the Chennai meteorological centre is considered one of the first modern astronomical-cum-meteorological observatory in the East beyond Europe, way before the establishment of the Indian Meteorological Department in 1875. it was Established by William Petrie at Madras. History Systematic meteorological observations in Chennai started much earlier than the actual establishment of the India Meteorological Department in 1875. The city is home to one of the first modern astronomical and meteorological observatory in the East, established at Egmore before 1792. The Madras Observatory, as it was known then, was established by Sir Charles Oakeley, the then Governor of Madras under the East India Company, in 1792 "for promoting the knowledge of Astronomy, Geography and Navigation in India", marking the beginning of the history of Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. Oakeley was supported by William Petrie, a member of the Madras Government, who had built an astronomical observatory at his own expense 5 years earlier in 1786. The primary purpose of the observatory was to spread astronomy among the masses, rather than weather observation. For over a century, it was the only astronomical observatory in India that exclusively worked on the stars. Among the astronomers at the observatory were Norman Robert Pogson, Michael Topping and John Goldingham. By 1899, it had been relegated to gathering weather-related data. The 15-feet tall granite pillar monument weighing 10 tons, which carried the original transit equipment, is still preserved and carries the name of the architect, Michael Topping Arch, and the year AD MDCCXCII. Inscriptions in Tamil and Telugu were carved on the pillar in order that "posterity may be informed a thousand years hence of the period when the mathematical sciences were first planted by British liberality in Asia". J. Goldingham, FRS, became the first astronomer of the observatory, who started recording the meteorological observations in 1796. In 1840, Captain S. O. E. Ludlow began recording meteorological observations on an hourly basis. In 1855, William Stephen Jacob of the East India Observatory in Madras found orbital anomalies in the binary star 70 Ophiuchi that he claimed are evidence of an extrasolar planet—the first exoplanet false alarm. The "discovery" began a 140-year period of other exoplanet discovery false alarms, although no actual planets were discovered. From 1861, N. R. Pogson held the post of astronomer of the observatory for 30 years. He also held the post of meteorological reporter to the Madras government for many years, who was assisted in his work by his wife and daughter. In 1875, the India Meteorological Department, also known as the Met Office, was