Observatories

When you think of observatories, you may think of a round building with a telescope sticking out of it and astronomers squabbling over observation time. That may have been a true scenario up until the late 20th century, but today there are a large number of observatories that share time. In addition to traditional optical telescopes there are a number of other types. Radio astronomy for instance is adding a great deal of information each year. Space based observatories are broadening our understanding of deep space that astronomers could not even imagine imaging a mere 25 years ago.

For every observatory that you can name, there is probably another dozen that you have never heard of. To help you become a little more familiar with the observation options that astronomers have, we have assembled a page full of links to articles about observatories around the world. Some are famous and others, well, only scientists know about them. To rev you up a little here are a few fun facts about observatories and telescopes.

The British used the equipment at Jodrell Bank to track Sputnik 1 and were able to publish reports about it before the Russian media.

While there are at least two of every type of telescope trained on the night sky at any given type, the neutrino telescope, AMANDA, in the Antarctic is truly a one-of-a-kind.

One of the oldest, continually used telescopes in the world sits in Ireland. From the time it was built and for an additional 70 years it was the world’s largest telescope.

The earliest version of the telescope was developed for naval combat. The spyglass is a very simple telescope and was the basis for Galileo’s later version.

Galileo constructed his first telescope for the equivalent of a few dollars. The ALMA telescope array will cost a bargain basement $1.3 billion. The Hubble space Telescope came in a little over budget at $1.175 billion. These are large sums of money, but most observatories are cooperative ventures, so the bill is footed by several countries over a period of years.

Advanced science and improving technologies prolong the life of most observatories. The ALMA array will be in use for at least 50 years, Hubble is in its 25th year of use and can be refitted for continued use. Some amateurs can still use telescopes that were produced in the mid-1800s. A good observatory never dies, its significance only wanes. Hopefully, you will find everything that you need here and, as always, enjoy your research.

• Arecibo Observatory
• Interferometers
• Jodrell Bank
• Hubble Deep Field
• Arecibo
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Advanced Camera for Surveys
• ALMA
• Hubble Space Telescope Image Gallery
• Yerkes Observatory
• Lowell Observatory