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NASA Space Technology

Ground-based Solar and Astrophysical Observatory Guide

This is an experimental attempt to pull together a list of ground-based observatory world wide web resources. I created this list because I had a need to pull this information together. However, I've found that the WWW Virtual Library: Astronomy Observatories list is quite complete, so I only update this occasionally when I find something I want to be able to find again.

The report A Strategy for Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy is available from the National Research Council.

Flexible Scheduling of Automatic Telescopes over the Internet. This paper outlines a new telescope operations paradigm that is intended to achieve low operating costs with high operating efficiency and high scientific productivity. From the Computational Sciences Division at the NASA Ames Research Center.

• The Arecibo Observatory is the world's largest single-dish radiotelescope. Alternate link?
• Project BAMBI Amateur Radio Telescope
• The Big Bear Solar Observatory ( California, USA ), one of the GONG sites
• The Bradford Robotic Telescope is a totally autonomous 46cm telescope located high on the moors in West Yorkshire, England. The telescope decides when the conditions are good enough to make observations of the sky by itself: an astronomer does not need to be present and waste time waiting for clear weather. Anyone on the Internet can register and ask the telescope to look at anything in the northern night sky. Observations are automatically prioritised and scheduled and completed by the telescope as time allows.
• The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) (on Mauna Kea)
• CANOPUS CCD All-Sky Imager. Based in Gillam, Manitoba, it takes images of the aurora at three different visible wavelengths once every minute. Operated by ISR since 1986.
• CANOPUS Ground-based Network. The CANOPUS Network consists of an array of automatic space science instruments set up in northern Canada.
• The Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (alternate link?) ( Chile ), one of the GONG sites
• The Deep Space Network
• The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Facilities Manual for the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, B.C., Canada.
• EISCAT, Norway/Sweden/Finland
• EISCAT Svalbard Radar, Svalbard (First operations late in 1995)
• Estación de Observación Solar
• The European Southern Observatory
• The Fairborn Observatory
• The Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory
• The Gemini 8 meter Telescopes Project (one of which is on Mauna Kea)
  • Twin Telescopes to Expand Astronomers' Horizons from the NSF.
• The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) sites
• The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California, USA
• The Guillermo Haro Observatory in Cananea, Mexico.
• The Harvard College Observatory, a member of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
• The MIT Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts.
• The Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescopes (SMT)
• The Infrared and Optical Telescope Array (IOTA). See also the University of Wyoming IOTA Page.
• The IRAM 30-m telescope (Europe)
• Jicamarca Radio Observatory, Peru
• The Joint Astronomy Centre, which incorporates the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) (on Mauna Kea)
• The Keck Telescope (on Mauna Kea)
• The Kitt Peak National Observatory
• LIGO Project Home Page. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project will be a facility dedicated to the detection of cosmic gravitational waves and the harnessing of these waves for scientific research. It will consist of two widely separated installations within the United States, operated in unison as a single observatory. When it reaches maturity, this observatory will be open for use by the national community and will become part of a planned worldwide network of gravitational-wave observatories.
• The Large Millimeter Wavelength Telescope (LMT) (proposed).
• The Learmonth Solar Observatory ( Australia ), one of the GONG sites
• The Lick and Leuschner Observatories
• The Lowell Observatory
• Mauna Kea Telescopes. For some images visit Mauna Kea in Hawaii, site of a number of observatories. This is part of a collection of Big Island of Hawaii Photos.
  • University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope
  • NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF)
  • Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT)
  • Joint Astronomy Centre, which incorporates the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT)
  • Gemini 8 meter Telescopes Project
  • Keck Observatory
• The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory ( Hawaii, USA ), one of the GONG sites
• The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), part of the Joint Astronomy Centre (on Mauna Kea)
• The McDonald Observatory
• The Millimeter Array (proposal, observatory does not exist yet).
• The Millstone Hill Observatory, located in Westford Massachusetts.
• Mt. Graham International Observatory (MGIO)
• Mt. Hopkins, site of the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the Fairborn Observatory.
• Mt. Lemmon Observing Facility (MLOF). Some information is available from the University of Rochester
• Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories
• Mt. Wilson Observatory
• The Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory. I've found several links:
  • Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory
  • The MMT Observatory
• The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) (on Mauna Kea)
• The National Radio Astronomy Observatory
  • Charlottesville, Virginia.
    • The NRAO Headquarters
    • The Central Development Laboratory
    • General Information on Observing Proposals
  • Green Bank, West Virginia
    • The Green Bank Telescope
    • The 140 foot Telescope
    • Observing Proposals for the 140 foot Telescope
  • Socorro, New Mexico
    • The Very Large Array
    • Observing Proposals for the VLA
    • The Very Long Baseline Array
    • Observing Proposals for the VLBA and Global VLBI
  • Tucson, Arizona
    • The 12 meter telescope
    • Observing Proposals for the 12 meter Telescope
• The National Solar Observatory, alternate link National Solar Observatory / Sacramento Peak Observatory
• The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO)
• The Nobeyama 45-m Telescope (Japan)
• The Nordic Optical Telescope
• Obervatorio del Teide (see Teide Observatory)
• The Oak Ridge Observatory in Harvard, Massachusetts
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari
• Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania
• Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (Firenze)
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
• Osservatorio Astronomico "Giuseppe S. Vaiana" di Palermo
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma - Sede di Monte Porzio
• Osservatorio Astronomico Collurania di Teramo
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino
• Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste
• The Owens Valley Radio Observatory
• The Paris-Meudon-Nancay Observatory
• The Pine Mountain Observatory
• Portable Auroral Imager
• Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, which includes the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes run by the Royal Observatories.
• The Royal Greenwich Observatory, one of the Royal Observatories.
• The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, one of the Royal Observatories.
• The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, a research bureau of the Smithsonian Institution and a member of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
• The Sommers-Bausch Observatory at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
• The South Africa Astronomical Observatory
• The Steward Observatory
• TNG - Telescopio Nazionale GALILEO
• El Teide Observatory ( Spain ), one of the GONG sites. This observatory includes solar telescopes operated jointly by Kiepenheuer-Institut für Sonnenphysik, Universitäts-Sternwarte Göttingen and the Institut für Astronomie and Astrophysik of the university of Würzburg.
• Udaipur Solar Observatory ( India ), one of the GONG sites
• United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), part of the Joint Astronomy Centre (on Mauna Kea)
• University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope (on Mauna Kea)
• WET, the Whole Earth Telescope
• The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, site of the first phase for IOTA
• Wyoming InfraRed Observatory (WIRO), Jelm mountain, near Laramie, Wyoming. Some information is available from the University of Rochester.
• WIYN Observatory
• Whately Observatory.
• Wyeth 61-inch reflector
• Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO) on Jelm Mountain.

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The uniform resource locator for this page is:

http://ranier.oact.hq.nasa.gov/Sensors_page/GroundObserv.html