Dominion Observatory

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Dominion Observatory

The Dominion Observatory was an astronomical observatory

Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the Capital of Canada. The city has population of 812,000, the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population municipality in the country and second largest in Ontario....
, Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
that operated from 1902 to 1970. The Observatory was also an institution within the Canadian Federal Government. The observatory grew out of the Department of the Interior's need for the precise coordinates and timekeeping that at that time could only come from an observatory. For several years they had used a small observatory on the Ottawa River

Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It defines for most of its length the border between these two provinces....
for this purpose.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Dominion Observatory'

Start a new discussion about 'Dominion Observatory'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Dominion Observatory was an astronomical observatory

Observatory

Ottawa

Canada

Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It defines for most of its length the border between these two provinces....
for this purpose. In 1902 it was decided that Canada needed a larger national observatory similar to the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Britain.

The new building was thus erected near Dow's Lake

Dow's Lake

Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Canada is a small man-made lake on the Rideau Canal, situated two kilometers north of Hog's Back Falls in the middle of Ottawa....
on the Agriculture Department's Central Experimental Farm

Central Experimental Farm

The Central Experimental Farm is an agricultural facility, working farm, and research centre of the Research Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada....
land. This building was completed in 1905. Its main instrument was a 15 inch refracting telescope

Refracting telescope

A refracting or refractor telescope is a Dioptrics telescope that uses a lens as its Objective to form an image. The refracting telescope design was originally used in telescope and astronomical telescopes but is also used in other devices such as binoculars and long or Telephoto lens camera lenses....
, the largest refracting telescope ever installed in Canada. While the building and institution were primarily dedicated to astronomical timekeeping in support of surveying, a number of other activities took place here. The Dominion Observatory was Canada's leading institution in Geophysics for many decades, which included the operation of Canada's national seismometer network. The facility did important work but with this bridgehead into the world of astronomy and the growth of the field of astrophysics Canadian astronomers quickly demanded a facility designed for the new scientific age. In 1917 the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian Government....
was opened in Victoria, B.C. and it supplanted the Dominion Observatory as Canada's foremost astronomical observatory. For many years the Dominion Observatory was best known to Canadians as the source of Canada's official time signal

National Research Council Time Signal

The National Research Council of Canada Radio clock is Canada's longest running but shortest radio programme. Heard every day since November 5, 1939 , at 13:00 Eastern Standard Time Zone across the CBC Radio One network, it lasts between 15 and 25 seconds....
.

The observatory continued in operation until 1970 at which time Canada's science institutions were reorganized. The national time-keeping and astronomical activities were transferred to the National Research Council of Canada

National Research Council of Canada

The National Research Council is Canada's leading organization for scientific research and development....
, while the geophysics, surveying and mapping were transferred to the Department of Energy Mines and Resources. The Geophysics work was later merged into the Geological Survey of Canada, now part of Natural Resources Canada. Astronomical timekeeping observations at the Dominion Observatory had ceased many years prior to this, when crystal oscillator clocks and later atomics clocks were found to be superior to astronomical timekeeping. The building became home to NRCan offices. The telescope had been open for public viewing from 1905 until 1970. In 1974 the telescope was moved from the Dominion Observatory to the Helen Sawyer Hogg Observatory at the Canada Science and Technology Museum

Canada Science and Technology Museum

The Canada Science and Technology Museum is located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on St. Laurent Boulevard, to the south of the Queensway ....
where it remains to this day.

In the mid 1990's, the rumour within Natural Resources was that consideration was given to demolish the building to save money in a time of budgetary cutbacks. However, these plans did not come to fruition. As of 2008, the building is the home to the Office of Energy Efficiency, a part of the Energy Branch, Natural Resources Canada.

Dominion Observatory

External links