NAVAL OBSERVATORY. A Government institution situated at Washington, 1). C., a di vision of the Bureau of Equipment in the Navy Department. Its functions are "to determine accurately the positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars for use in preparing the Nautical Al manac.: to test chronometers; to issue correct standard time . . to distribute to vessels of the Navy instruments of precision for navigating purposes; to condnet astronomical in vestigations of general and special scientific in terest; and. since 189-1. to publish the Nautical Almanac." It had its origin in a depot of charts and instruments established by the Navy Depart ment under the charge of Lieut. L. M. Golds borough in 1830. At this depot, "in a small cir eular building, on a brick pier with a foundation 20 feet below the surface, he mounted a 3-ineh transit instrument made by B. Patten of New York City." In 1833 Lieutenant Wilkes. U. S. N., moved the depot to another site on Capitol Hill, and at his own expense built an observatory con taining a transit instrument of 3'T inches aper ture and 63 inches focal length; a Borda's circle; a achromatic portable telescope; a port able transit instrument; and a sidereal clock. In the summer of 183S the Seeretary of the Navy directed the superintendent "to make a constant series of obsel%ations in astronomy, Il lagnetism. and meteonalngy, ordering an additional number of assistant, (naval officers). and granting au thority bar the purchase of all IlereS,:lry 01:41. r1.1, I toter these instructions Lieut. J. M.
C. S. N.. began systematic observations in astronomy with additional instruments as fol lows: A sidereal (lock and a mean time clock; a lowrillian circle of 5.5 inches aperture furnished with circles 30 inches in diameter; a portable achromatic telescope of inches aperture and 42 inches focal length. The work (lone under his direction at the Capitol Hill depot between 1538 and 1512 was published in 1846 as .1.vironomica1 obscreations Rode at the Oh se rent ory, being the first American volume of this nature.
building for this depot was authorized by Congress in 1542 through the efforts of Lieuten ant thins's. Taking the report of the Naval Com mittee which aeemnpa»ied the bill as the expo nent of the will of Congress, he, after consulting American and Europ•an scientists, prepared plans and (-noted the Naval observatory. Soon
after the instruments were in place Lieut. "Al. F. Maury succeeded to the charge of the observatory, remaining as superintendent until 1:461. and in addition to astrono ??? i ( •al work devoted much of his personal attention to the study of ocean cur rents and other hydrographie and nautical sub jects. wine!' gave him international reputation. He was followed as superintendent by such men as Cilliss, Davis, and Rodgers. Among the earliest of the scientific• achievements of the new observatory were the observations of Neptune secured in 1846 immediately after the dis ecevery of that planet, enabled Sears C. Walker, ht identifying two older foreign observa tions. to discuss the elements of Neptune during his short omneetion with the Observatory. The adaptation of electricity to record observations by Prof. John Locke. formerly lieutenant in the Navy, resulted in the installation of the first practical ehronograph at the Observatory in 1849. With the 9.6-inch equatorial Assistant James Ferguson discovered several planetoids between 1854 and 1860. The 20-ineh huis made by Alvan Clark. at the time the largest refracting telescope in the world, enabled Prof. Asap)) Hall to discover the satellites of Mars in 1877. In 1S93 new buildings were com pleted on a more favorable site on Ceorgetown Ileights, comprising a commodious ofliee accepted by the offices of the astronomical, nautical instrument, time service, and :Vocalic-al %banyan. departments, while the 26-inch equa torial!. a it inch and a 6-im•li transit eirele. and a 5-inch prime vertical instrument are disposed in snitable (hone and houses Oil the smith. east• west, and north of a elork•house, the longitude of which is 5h. sm. 15.78s. V. and the latitude 39(° 55' 14.0" N. In addition to the instruments named there are a 12-inell equatorial. a 6•inch altazimuth, a fi-ineh transit. cc 5-inch photoheliograph. and nu merous others. The library contains about twenty thousand volumes, and is the most (Tim plote astronomieal colleetion in the country. The publications if the Observatory comprise more than fifty large quarto volumes, whieh contain full details of Ue work oNeellted. with many valuable seientific memoirs by Professors Asaph Hall. Simon Newcomb, William Harkness, and others.