What is an observatory? Detailed answer

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What is an observatory? Detailed answer

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What is an observatory?

Thousands of years ago, astronomers must have used the Egyptian pyramids and the towers and temples of Babylon to study the sun, moon, and stars. There were no telescopes then. Over time, astronomical instruments appeared, and as their size and number increased, observatories began to be built to accommodate them. Some observatories were built over a thousand years ago. The place for the construction of the observatory must be correctly chosen. There should be favorable weather conditions, moderate temperatures; there should be many sunny days and cloudless nights, as little as possible fogs, rains and snowfalls. This place should be away from city lights and neon advertisements, which illuminate the sky too much and interfere with observations.

There are buildings in which, in addition to telescopes, there are living quarters. The instruments are housed in steel and concrete structures. Buildings for the installation of telescopes consist of two parts. The lower part is fixed, while the upper, or roof, is shaped like a dome that can rotate. There is a "slit" in the dome that opens up to allow the telescope to look up into the sky. Due to the rotation of the dome, the slit can be opened in the direction of any part of the sky. Both the dome and the telescope are moved by electric motors. In a modern observatory, an astronomer only needs to press a few buttons to move the equipment.

Of course, in order to see, the astronomer must always be at the eyepiece, or a camera must be fixed there. Therefore, in some observatories, the floor can be raised or lowered, or there is an adjustable platform. Astronomers rely on more than just their eyes to observe the sky. They have many sophisticated instruments and accessories for the telescope, such as cameras, spectroscopes, spectrographs and spectroheliographs. All these devices provide scientists with important information.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What is a scallop?

Have you ever eaten a dish of fried scallops? Have you ever looked at the little squares on your plate and wondered why you never saw them in the water? What is this creature that exists in the form of square slices of meat?

In fact, what is sold under the name "scallops" and the scallops that you eat are just large muscles of a certain type of shellfish. These muscles are used to open and close shell valves and are the only edible part. The scallop itself is a curious creature. As you probably already know, most bivalves (mollusks with two shells) find a place to live and stay there.

They can attach themselves to rocks or wood, or litter the ocean floor like oysters do. But scallops are completely different. Scallops prefer to move. They are constantly moving from place to place. They move with the help of water, which is first taken into the shell, and then thrown out with force. This allows them to zigzag and push themselves forward. Did you know that the scallop has become a symbol of travelers because it is in constant motion? In the Middle Ages, pilgrims wore scallop shells on their hats to show that they had come a long way by sea.

Scallops belong to a large family of mollusks, which also includes snails, veners and oysters. There are over two hundred varieties. The common scallop lives in bays close to the coast. In diameter, its size reaches 3 centimeters. The giant scallop is a scallop. It is found further from the coast in deeper waters and reaches a diameter of 15 centimeters.

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