![]() NOFS has an active program of astronomical research that directly addresses the needs of USNO and its mission to the Navy (and more widely the DoD), as well as more traditional astronomical research. The scientific and technical staff is all civilian, with a high proportion of Ph.D.s in astronomy and physics.Īstronomical research and development observations are carried out primarily at the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station (NOFS) in Flagstaff, AZ. ![]() USNO is a relatively small institution, with a total scientific and technical staff of about 60 in Washington and just over a dozen in Flagstaff. USNO is one of the preeminent authorities in the world in astrometry, Earth rotation measurement, precise time, fundamental reference frames, and solar system dynamics. The observatory provides astronomical and timing data required by the Navy and other components of the Department of Defense for navigation, precise positioning, and command, control, and communications. Naval Observatory (USNO) is one of the oldest scientific organizations in the Federal Government. About the LabĮstablished in 1830, The U.S. All rights reserved.USNO’s mission is to determine the positions and motions of celestial bodies, motions of the Earth, and precise time provide astronomical and timing data required by the Navy and other components of the Department of Defense for navigation, precise positioning, and command, control, and communications make these data available to other government agencies and to the general public and conduct relevant research and perform such other functions as may be directed by higher authority. Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. ![]() The observatory also has an extensive library. Naval Observatory has included the Nautical Almanac Office, which publishes the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. Atomic clocks, cesium clocks, mercury ion clocks, and hydrogen maser frequency standards are all used for the observatory's time system, which is accurate to within a few billionths of a second per day. The main programs of the Naval Observatory involve continual observations of the positions and motions of celestial bodies for astronomical and navigational purposes and for the derivation and broadcasting of accurate time signals. Christy discovered Pluto's moon Charon with the 61-in. The observatory's Flagstaff Station in Arizona has 61-in. Other equipment includes a number of ordinary refracting and reflecting telescopes and special telescopes (photographic zenith tubes) used in the precise determination of time. The original mounting and drive were replaced during the 1893 move. refracting telescope, which has been in almost continuous operation since its installation in 1873, when it was the largest of its kind in the world. The principal instrument at the Washington headquarters is an Alvan Clark 26-in. It was formerly administered through the Bureau of Navigation and is now under the jurisdiction of the chief of naval operations. It evolved from the Navy's oldest scientific institution, the Depot of Charts and Instruments, founded in 1830 the observatory was completed in 1844 and moved to its present site in 1893. United States Naval Observatory, a federal astronomical observatory, located in Washington, D.
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