Maskelyne Passage () is a passage between

Larrouy Island Larrouy Island is an island long and wide which rises to , (the Peak Pilot) lying in Grandidier Channel off the northwest coast of Velingrad Peninsula north of Ferin Head, Antarctica. It was discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 19 ...

and Tadpole Island to the east, and Cat Island, Runnelstone Rock and

Hummock Island Hummock Island is the largest of a group of islands in King George Bay in the Falkland Islands. It has a land area of and is about long in a north-west to south-east direction. Hummock Island is off the western coast of West Falkland, in a ...

to the west, off the west coast of

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...

, Antarctica. It was photographed by

Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd was a British aerial photography company founded by Percy Hunting in 1944. Its operations became more diversified under the name Hunting Surveys. History The firm incorporated Aerofilms Ltd and the Aircraft Operating Co ...

in 1956–57, and mapped from these photos by the

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

. It was named by the

UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

in 1959 for Englishman

Nevil Maskelyne Nevil Maskelyne (; 6 October 1732 – 9 February 1811) was the fifth British Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811. He was the first person to scientifically measure the mass of the planet Earth. He created the ''British Nau ...

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...

for many years till his death in 1811, who started ''

The Nautical Almanac ''The Nautical Almanac'' has been the familiar name for a series of official British almanacs published under various titles since the first issue of ''The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris'', for 1767: this was the first nautical alm ...

'' in 1767.

References

Straits of the Biscoe Islands {{Biscoes-geo-stub