What Is an Astronomical Observatory?

Astronomical observatories are institutions that specialize in astronomical observation and astronomical research. Most observatories around the world are located on mountains. Each observatory has some equipment for observing astronomical phenomena, mainly astronomical telescopes. Is a good place to see the stars.

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In 2600 BC,

At the observatory, people observe space through astronomical telescopes. Astronomical telescopes are often very large and cannot be moved randomly. The targets observed by astronomical telescopes are distributed in all directions in the sky. If an ordinary roof is used, it is difficult to point the telescope at a target in any direction. The roof of the observatory is mostly spherical, and a computer-controlled mechanical rotation system is installed at the junction of the dome and the wall; there is a wide crack in the hemisphere that splits from the highest point of the roof to the bottom of the house. But it was not a crack, but a huge skylight through which a huge astronomical telescope pointed to the vast space. In this way, when observing with an astronomical telescope, as long as the dome is rotated, the skylight is turned to the direction to be observed, and the telescope is also turned to the same direction, and then the lens of the astronomical telescope can be adjusted up and down to point the telescope at any point in the sky. The goal is up. When not in use, as long as the skylight on the dome is closed, the astronomical telescope can be protected from wind and rain.

The popular science introduction usually conveys a wrong message, as if all the observatory roofs are made into a hemisphere, and the reason for the design of the spherical shape is to adjust the observation direction in the daily observation mentioned above. this is not right. Not all observatory roofs are hemispherical: for radio telescopes, the radar inside requires full-hemispheric rotation without dead angles, of course, it needs to be made into a hemispherical cover, just like a radome on a warship; and For ordinary optical telescopes, the main reason for designing it as a hemisphere is not because of the orientation during observation, because even if it is not designed as a sphere, as long as it has a rotation function, it can achieve flexible adjustment in different directions. For this type of telescope, The main reasons for the design of the observatory's roof are hemispherical. One is for structural stability in the mechanics of the building structure. The spherical roof will be stronger and more stable, and the other is for aesthetics. ^[1]

The main task of the observatory is to observe stars with astronomical telescopes. Most Chinese observatories are located on mountains. Such as the Zijin Mountain Observatory, it is located on the Zijin Mountain in the northeast of Nanjing, at an altitude of 267 meters.

There are many famous observatories in the world, including the Royal Greenwich Observatory in the United Kingdom, the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, and the Southern Observatory in Europe. Among them, the European Southern Observatory is an international organization cooperating with European astronomers. Its very large telescope (VLT) in Chile is composed of four 8.2-meter telescopes. When these four telescopes are used together, it is equivalent to one caliber 16-meter optical telescope.

Observatory Greenwich Observatory

The world-famous British Observatory is now located at Hurstmon Castle in Sussex, South Coast, UK. Green

Greenwich Observatory

Founded in 1675, the Greenwich Observatory is located in Greenwich, London, the capital of the United Kingdom. After the Second World War, it moved to a new site, but retains the name of the "Greenwich Royal Observatory". In 1884, the meridian passing through this observatory was determined as the standard reference meridian for global time and longitude measurement, also known as the prime meridian, that is, the zero meridian.

When the Greenwich Observatory was first built, it was designed to accurately observe the moon and stars to help navigators determine longitude. It has now developed into a comprehensive optical observatory in the United Kingdom. On December 28, 1999, a new time system, Greenwich Electronic Time (GET), was officially launched, which will provide a time standard for global e-commerce. The original Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) will be retained as the 21st century world standard time.

Mauna Kea Observatory

Mount Mauna Kea Observatory is located on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of the Hawaiian Islands.

Mauna Kea Observatory

Astronomy research site. All facilities are located in the scientific reserve of Mauna Kea, covering an area of 500 acres, which is specially called "Astronomical Park". The Astronomical Park was established in 1967. The area of the area is leased by the management office of the University of Hawaii, and many countries have invested $ 2 billion in science and technology in cooperation. The astronomical park is located on a land of historical significance to Hawaiian culture, and has become a land to be protected by historical preservation operations, because the history of Hawaiian ballads calls Mauna Kea the birthplace of Hawaiian ancestors. His altitude and isolation in the center of the Pacific Ocean make Mount Mauna Kea an important land base for astronomical observations on Earth. It is an ideal observation place for sub-micron, infrared and optics. Statistics on visual acuity show that both the optical and infrared lines have very good image quality. For example, the Addia Telescope generally has a resolution of 0.43 seconds.

To allow researchers to adapt to the environment, an astronomer center was set up at an altitude of 2,835 meters (9,300 feet), and a visitor center was set up for visitors at 2,775 meters (9,200 feet). The height of Mauna Kei requires scientists or visitors to stay here for at least 30 minutes in order to adapt to the alpine environment before reaching the summit.

Observatory European Southern Observatory

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an international astronomical research organization composed of 13 European countries. Its main observation equipment is located in Chile, South America, and its headquarters is located in Garching near Munich, Germany.

European Southern Observatory

On October 5, 1962, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden signed an agreement in Paris, deciding to jointly establish an observatory in the southern hemisphere, and named it European Southern Observatory. Later, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain (July 1, 2006 [1]), and the Czech Republic (January 1, 2007 [2]) joined.

Site selection for the European Southern Observatory began in the mid-1950s, when expeditions were sent to the Carlow Desert in Africa. In the mid-1960s, the European Southern Observatory inspected the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and eventually selected it as the site. On March 25, 1969, the European Southern Observatory officially cut the ribbon at Mount Lasila in the southern Atacama Desert.