Somewhere far from the city, there may be a wonderful place to watch the stars, let us indulge in the joy of staring at the universe. That's right, these are the observatories distributed all over the world.
Which are institutions specialized in astronomical observation and astronomical research, and each observatory is an excellent place for stargazing. This article will introduce spectacular observatories around the world!
1. Einstein Observatory
The Einstein Observatory is located in Potsdam, Germany, designed by the German architect Mendelssohn in 1917 and completed in 1921. The building, named after the famous scientist, was not built with the latest technology.
Most of the tower body is built with bricks, but its streamlined shape had a profound impact on later industrial buildings, especially in the United States. The dome on the upper part of the building is an astronomical observation room, and the lower part is a number of astrophysics laboratories.
2. Fabra Observatory
The Fabra Observatory is located on the 411-meter-high Tibidabo Mountain in Barcelona, Spain, with breathtaking views around it, and the Observatory itself is also a very historic building.
The Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts has been committed to the scientific research of meteorology, seismology, and astronomy since 1904, and the main work of the observatory is to study comets and asteroids. Since the Fabra Observatory opened in 1904, visitors can come in on certain nights and observe the stars through the huge and ancient telescope.
3. Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is one of the world's famous observatories. It is located on a hill northwest of the center of Los Angeles, opposite the Hollywood Hills. It is a landmark building in Los Angeles and used to be the location of many movies. Griffith Observatory is equipped with 4 fixed telescopes.
Through the Zeiss telescope equipped with a 0.3-meter reflector, you can see the unique landscape in the night sky. Visitors can climb the east cupola to get a closer look at the moon or the planets in the night sky.
On January 31, 2018, on the night of the "super blue blood total lunar eclipse", Griffith Observatory was activated by NASA to photograph the moon.
4. Kitt Peak National Observatory
Kitt Peak National Astronomical Observatory is located in Arizona, USA. It is equipped with various astronomical instruments such as the 4-meter-caliber Meier Telescope and the advanced WIYN Telescope.
5. Mount Palomar Observatory
Palomar Mountain Observatory is located on the top of Palomar Mountain northeast of San Diego, California, USA, at an altitude of 1706 meters. The famous comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered here.
The observatory has a reflective telescope with a diameter of 5.08 meters - the Haier telescope. There is also a 1.86-meter/1.22-meter Schmidt telescope, which is responsible for searching for optical counterparts of radio sources and supernova explosions. In 1970, a 1.52-meter reflective telescope was installed to observe dark objects.
In 1969, in honor of American astronomer Hale, Mount Palomar Observatory and Mount Wilson Observatory merged to become Hale Observatory.
6. Parkes Observatory
The Parkes Observatory was completed in 1961 and became fully operational in 1963. It is a radio telescope located 20 kilometers north of New South Wales, Australia, and was one of the telescopes that helped obtain footage and a live broadcast of Apollo 11's lunar landing on July 20, 1969.
7. Midi Observatory
The Midi Observatory is located on Midi Peak at an altitude of 2788 meters in France. Visitors can stay here overnight, observe the stars from a professional astronomical telescope, and there will be special staff to explain, but because it is too popular, it needs to be booked a long time in advance.
8. Royal Observatory Greenwich
The Royal Observatory of Greenwich is located in the town of Greenwich in the southeastern suburb of London. It is one of the famous attractions in London. It was built in 1675.
In 1884, the meridian passing through this observatory was established as the standard reference meridian for time and longitude measurement around the world, also known as the zero-degree meridian.
In 1997, UNESCO listed the Royal Observatory as a world’s precious heritage. In Greenwich, visitors can adjust their watches to the most standard time in the world.
9. Sphinx Observatory
The Sphinx Observatory is an observatory located on the Jungfrau col in Switzerland. The observatory takes its name from the rocky summit "Sphinx" on which it stands. At 3,571 meters above sea level, the Sphinx Observatory is one of the highest observatories in the world.
The viewing platform to which the observatory belongs is open to the general public and is the second-highest viewing platform in Switzerland.
