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An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology / meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. [1]
The Einstein X-ray observatory (1978–81) and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (January to November 1983) exposed new realms of phenomena and discoveries for scientists. Another orbiting observatory (launched in 1990 by NASA) is the Hubble Space Telescope. It has provided a vast amount of data using ultraviolet, visible, and infrared ...
- Observatory
- Optical Observatory
- Radio Observatory
- Space Observatory
- Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
- David Dunlap Observatory
- University of Toronto Southern Observatory
- Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
- Gemini
- Other Observatories
Of the observatories in use before the invention of the telescope, perhaps the most scientifically productive was that of Tycho Brahe, built 400 years ago on the island of Hveen in the Baltic Sea. Johannes Kepler used Tycho's precise sightings of the planets to establish his laws of planetary motion. The first telescopic observatory was that of Gal...
Optical observations are made by means of light, ie, those "optical" photons to which our eyes are sensitive. A star emits photons in great variety and abundance and in all directions. A tiny fraction of them arrives at Earth. Modern optical telescopes employ concave mirrors as the primary means of collecting photons. An image of the star or other ...
Grote Reber built the first equipment specially designed to study long-wave radiation from celestial bodies. The first radio astronomical observations in Canada were made in 1946 by A.E. COVINGTON, working at the NRC in Ottawa. When RADARresearch was curtailed at the close of WWII, Covington used surplus equipment to construct a radio telescope whi...
Various kinds of electromagnetic radiation (ie, very low-energy infrared radiation and high-energy ultraviolet and X-ray radiation) are incapable of penetrating Earth's atmosphere and must be observed from the upper atmosphere or from space. Upper-atmosphere observations have been an ongoing part of Canada's satellite-research program since its inc...
Within 8 years the federal government decided to build an astrophysical observatory to be furnished with a telescope which, in its time, was the largest in the world. After a careful survey, Victoria, BC, was selected as the best site in Canada, with a large percentage of clear nights and "good seeing" (steady and pointlike star images). The Domini...
A generous gift from the DUNLAPfamily enabled University of Toronto in 1935 to establish the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) in Richmond Hill just outside Toronto. It was equipped with a 1.88 m telescope, then and still the largest in Canada. Kept up-to-date instrumentally, it is nowadays used exclusively for stellar spectroscopy (revealing the phys...
In the 1960s, due to increased enrolment in graduate studies, it became necessary for the U of T to seek additional dependable observatory facilities, DDO's research expanded into southern skies, where the richest regions of the Milky Way and its 2 satellite galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, can be observed. In 1971 a 61 cm telescope was erected by ...
A more recent development for Canada in ground-based optical observatories has been the construction of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) atop Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. During the 1960s several groups in Canada pointed out the country's need for a larger and more up-to-date telescope.The federal government was sympathetic and final...
Canada is one of the major participants in the Gemini project, along with the US, Britain, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. As the name implies, the project will eventually see the completion of 2 observatories, in Hawaii and Chile. The northern telescope was dedicated in June 1999. The 8.1 m diameter telescope sits atop Mauna Kea, an extinct volcano o...
Canada, like other countries searching for a fuller understanding of the universe, has many smaller observatories from coast to coast. Major universities that maintain observatories for instruction and research include St Mary's U (at Halifax),U de Montréal and Laval (jointly on Mont Megantic, Qué), U of Western Ontario (near London), York U (at To...
4 days ago · astronomical observatory, any structure containing telescopes and auxiliary instruments with which to observe celestial objects. Observatories can be classified on the basis of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum in which they are designed to observe. The largest number of observatories are optical; i.e., they are equipped to observe in ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Introduction. An observatory is a place for observing, or studying, natural objects and events on Earth or in space. An astronomical observatory is a place to observe space. Scientists use this type of observatory to gather information about stars, planets, comets, and other things outside Earth’s atmosphere. Observatories may be on Earth or ...
observatory, Structure containing telescope s and other instruments for observing celestial objects and phenomena. Observatories can be classified by the part of the electromagnetic spectrum they can receive. Most are optical, observing in and near the region of the visible spectrum. Some are equipped to detect radio waves; others (space ...
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The meaning of OBSERVATORY is a building or place given over to or equipped for observation of natural phenomena (as in astronomy); also : an institution whose primary purpose is making such observations.
