Aerial view of the U. S. Naval Observatory.

The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Located in Northwest Washington, D.C., it is one of the few observatories located in an urban area; at the time of its construction, it was far from the light pollution generated by the (then-smaller) city center. Northwest (also written as NW or NW) is the northwestern quadrant of Washington D Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events Light pollution, also known as photopollution or luminous pollution, is excess or obtrusive Light created mainly by Humans Among other effects

History

Number One Observatory Circle, official home of the Vice President of the United States

Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, it was made into a national observatory in 1842 via a federal law. Number One Observatory Circle is the Official residence of the Vice President of the United States. For the game see 1830 (board game. Year 1830 ( MDCCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display Year 1842 ( MDCCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common James Melville Gilliss was put in charge of the project. James Melville Gilliss (born September 6, 1811 in Georgetown Washington D

The observatory's primary mission was to care for the United States Navy's marine chronometers, charts, and other navigational equipment. A marine chronometer is a timekeeper precise enough to be used as a portable Time standard; it can therefore be used to determine Longitude by means of Celestial It calibrated ships' chronometers by timing the transit of stars across the meridian. Calibration is the process of establishing the relationship between a measuring device and the units of measure The term transit or astronomical transit has three meanings in astronomy A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one A star is a massive luminous ball of plasma. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the Energy on Earth This article is about the astronomical concept For other uses of the word see Meridian. Initially located downtown in Foggy Bottom (near the Kennedy Center), the observatory was moved to its present location in 1893, atop Observatory Hill overlooking Massachusetts Avenue, amidst perfectly circular grounds. Foggy Bottom is one of Washington DC 's oldest 19th century Neighborhoods The neighborhood is thought to have been named because as a low-lying area Fog The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (on the building itself called the John F Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Massachusetts Avenue, abbreviated Mass Ave, is a major diagonal transverse road in Washington D

The first superintendent was Navy Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury. Matthew Fontaine Maury ( January 14, 1806 &ndash February 1, 1873) USN was an American Astronomer, Maury had the world's first vulcanized time ball, created to his specifications by Charles Goodyear for the U. Vulcanization (or Vulcanisation refers to a specific curing process of Rubber involving high heat and the addition of Sulfur or other equivalent curatives Timeball stationjpg|thumb|right|The Port Lyttelton, New Zealand timeball started signaling Greenwich mean time to ships in the harbor beginning in 1876 Charles Goodyear ( December 29, 1800 - July 1, 1860) was the first American to vulcanize rubber, a process which he discovered in S. Observatory. It was the first timeball in the United States, and the 12th in the world. Maury kept accurate time by the stars and planets. When the timeball was dropped, a flag was mechanically raised letting all ships and civilians know the exact time. Thus, time was kept not only for Washington, D. C. , but, through the use of the telegraph, also for every state in the Union. Time was also "sold" to the railroads and was used in conjunction with Railroad chronometers to schedule American rail transport. Railroad Chronometers (railroader's watches) are specialized Timepieces that once were crucial for safe and correct operation of Trains in the Early in the 20th century, the Arlington Time Signal broadcast this service to wireless receivers. Wireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or " Wires quot

The names "National Observatory" and "Naval Observatory" were both used for 10 years, until a ruling was passed to use only the term Navy Observatory. Former President John Quincy Adams had intended for it to be called the National Observatory. John Quincy Adams (July 11 1767 &ndash February 23 1848 was an American diplomat and politician who served as the sixth President of the United States John Quincy Adams spent many nights at the observatory with Maury, watching and charting the stars, because it had always been one of Adams' hobbies to study the stars - another reason he passed the bill for the creation of a national observatory just before his leaving presidential office.

In November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an antenna, exchanged sustained wireless (radio) signals with the United States Naval Observatory, using an antenna in Arlington, Virginia to determine the exact difference of longitude between the two institutions. Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Paris Observatory (in French Observatoire de Paris or Observatoire de Paris-Meudon) is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel /tuʀ ɛfɛl/ is an Iron Tower built An antenna is a Transducer designed to transmit or Receive electromagnetic waves In other words antennas convert electromagnetic waves into ^[1]

The modern United States Naval Observatory continues to be a major authority in the areas of time-keeping and celestial observation. In collaboration with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, it determines the timing and astronomical data required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy, and distributes this information in the Astronomical Almanac. The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ( RAL) is a scientific research laboratory at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, England. Navigation is the process of reading and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study The Astronomical Almanac is an Almanac published by the United States Naval Observatory and Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, containing solar system Perhaps it is best known to the general public for its highly accurate ensemble of atomic clocks and its year 2000 Timeball replacement. An atomic clock is a type of Clock that uses an Atomic resonance Frequency standard as its timekeeping element The site also houses the largest astronomy library in the United States.

Since 1974, Number One Observatory Circle, a house situated in the grounds of the observatory (formerly the residence of its superintendent, and later the home of the Chief of Naval Operations), has been the official residence of the Vice President of the United States. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Number One Observatory Circle is the Official residence of the Vice President of the United States. Organization of the CNO's Office The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations includes the Chief of Naval Operations the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the Deputy Chiefs The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death

As of January 2008, the aerial view of the site is pixelated in Google Earth and Google Maps, while aerial views of the rest of Washington can be seen in high resolution. PortalCurrent events International holidays January 1 - New Year's Day January 1 - Independence Pixelization is a video- and image-editing technique where an image or part of it is blurred by displaying part or all of it at a markedly lower resolution Google Earth is a Virtual globe program that was originally called Earth Viewer and was created by Keyhole Inc, a company acquired by Google in 2004 Google Maps (for a time named Google Local) is a free Web mapping service application and technology provided by Google that powers many map-based services As of November 2007, Yahoo Maps does not censor this location. November 2007 is the eleventh month of that year It began on a Thursday and 30 days later ended on a Friday

Time service

The U. S. Naval Observatory's time service can be accessed by telephone or via the internet. The phone number is (719) 567-6742 in Colorado Springs, or (202) 762-1401 in Washington, D. C. On the internet, USNO master clock time is available at http://www.usno.navy.mil/.

See also

• List of observatories
• Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer
• Rear Admiral Samuel P. Carter
• United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station

Notes

References

• Sky and Ocean Joined – The U. S. Naval Observatory 1830-2000 by Steven J. Dick (2003) ISBN 0-521-81599-1

External links

• U.S. Naval Observatory.
• USNO, “What Time is it?”
• Transcription: Lieut. Matthew Fontaine Maury’s 1847 Letter to President John Quincy Adams on the many details of the United States Naval and National Observatory.. Archived from the original on 2006-03-21. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem.

• United States Naval Observatory is at coordinates 38°55′17″N 77°04′01″W / 38.921473, -77.066946 (United States Naval Observatory)Coordinates: 38°55′17″N 77°04′01″W / 38.921473, -77.066946 (United States Naval Observatory)