When Washingtonians set their eyes on the stars, whether to track a comet, view an eclipse, or just gaze in quiet wonder, they frequently turn to the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO). On tour nights, visitors queue up for a chance to stand in the big dome and peer through its 26-inch telescope. With pride, they check their watches against the readings of precise atomic clocks housed in the Time Service building. Visitors leave with a pleasant reassurance that, in this every-changing, topsy-turvy world, they can at least count of the precise return of every star to its proper place at its proper time.
Nestled on tree-lined Massachusetts Avenue, at the edge of Embassy Row and encompassing the mansion of the vice president of the United States, stands the main campus of the USNO. Like its nearby neighbor, the National Cathedral, this Washington landmark provides a scenic environment for serious reflection. Defying the din of traffic, light pollution, and other abstractions, the USNO carries out important scientific work.
The USNO is an operational part of the U.S. Navy. Its specific mission is to support navigation throughout the world. As the nation's timekeeper, it provides valuable technical data for every imaginable public and private use. Taking advantage of its uniquely pooled scientific talents, the USNO is recognized as a world-class research institution. A leader in fundamental astronomical study, it contributes uniquely to the fund of knowledge in areas that more conventional observatories cannot normally pursue.
History
Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, the UNSO's first home was a house on G Street in Northwest Washington, and its first task was to obtain and calibrate chronometers for navigation. (Chronometers are the exceptionally accurate clocks that ships used to determine their longitude. These must be calibrated while in port if they are to give reasonably accurate time on extended sea voyages.)
The depot quickly acquired a small telescope for measuring transits of stars across what is known as the "local meridian," the great circle in the sky passing from due north through the point directly overhead and on to due south. Since the rotation of the Earth was then the primary standard of time, these observations were required to check the chronometers. Thus, right from the beginning of the old depot, the Navy had an astronomical requirement.
In 1833 the depot moved to a complex of houses about a quarter of a mile northwest of the Capitol Building, where it became informally known as the Capitol Hill Observatory. From this location, not only observations of the Sun but also of Planets and stars were carried out.
In 1844 the depot moved to what is now known as the old observatory site, at 23rd and E streets, in an area known as Foggy Bottom. Although this area now is part of the Navy Medical Command, the old observatory buildings remain and are quite visible from the top of the Kennedy Center. The first superintendent at this location was Matthew Fontaine Maury, who gained fame as an oceanographer and was known as the "pathfinder of the seas." After the move to this new facility, the task of the USNO combined oceanography and astronomy. This was recognized by the name change in a 1854
...
Read Full Article
|
