Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO), is an astronomical observatory located in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It has a long history of astrometry

Astrometry

Astrometry is the branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. The information obtained by astrometric measurements provides information on the kinematics and physical origin of our Solar System and our Galaxy, the Milky...

, and also operates the Sheshan 25m radio telescope as part of the Chinese VLBI array and the EVN

European VLBI Network

The European VLBI Network was formed in 1980 by a consortium of five of the major radio astronomy institutes in Europe . Since 1980, the EVN and the Consortium has grown to include 9 institutes with 12 radio telescopes in 8 western European countries as well as associated institutes with...

. It was formed in 1962 from the merger of the Xujiahui (originally spelt Zi-Ka-Wei) and Sheshan (Zỏ-Sẻ) observatories in Shanghai. It is involved with the Chang'e 1 moon mission as the VLBI array is used for position determinations.

External links

• Observatory English-language webpage: http://www.shao.ac.cn/eng/
• On Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=31.190313,121.429315&spn=0.003336,0.005665&t=k&z=18&om=1