Military observatory and official residence of the US Vice President
Site information
Owner
Department of Defense
Operator
US Navy
Controlled by
Naval District Washington
Condition
Operational
Website
www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/usno/
D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites
Official name
Naval Observatory Historic District (New Naval Observatory)[1]
Site history
Built
1830 (1830) (as Depot of Charts and Instruments)
In use
1830-present
Garrison information
Current commander
Captain Mark Burns
Garrison
United States Naval Observatory
The Seal of the USNO with a quote from the Astronomica by Marcus Manilius, Adde gubernandi studium: Pervenit in astra, et pontum caelo conjunxit [Increase the study of navigation: It arrives in the stars, and marries the sea with heaven].
The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense.[2] Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, it is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States,[3] and remains the country's leading authority for astronomical and timing data for all purposes.[4]
The observatory is located in Northwest Washington, D.C. at the northwestern end of Embassy Row. It is among the few pre-20th century astronomical observatories located in an urban area; initially located in Foggy Bottom near the city's center, it was relocated to its Northwest DC location in 1893 to escape light pollution.
The USNO has conducted significant scientific studies throughout its history, including measuring the speed of light, observing solar eclipses, and discovering the moons of Mars.[5] Its achievements including providing data for the first radio time signals, constructing some of the earliest and most accurate telescopes of their kind, and helping develop universal time.[4] The Naval Observatory performs radio VLBI-based positions of quasars for astrometry and geodesy with numerous global collaborators (IERS), in order to produce Earth orientation parameters and to realize the celestial reference system (ICRF).
Aside from its scientific mission, since the 1970s the Naval Observatory campus hosts the official residence of the vice president of the United States.
^"District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites" (PDF). DC.GOV – Office of Planning. State Historic Preservation Office, D.C. Office of Planning. 30 September 2009. p. 107. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
^"National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing". pnt.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2011-06-17. Archived from the original on 2011-07-30. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
^"The USNO's Mission". usno.navy.mil. Naval Oceanography Portal. Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. Archived from the original on 2009-12-24. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
^ ab"USNO - Our Command History — Naval Oceanography Portal". www.usno.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
^"A Brief History of the Naval Observatory — Naval Oceanography Portal". www.usno.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2022-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
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Global Information
