Shanghai Astronomical Observatory sheshan branch |
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| Shanghai Astronomical Observatory Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) was formally established in 1962 following the amalgamation of the former Xujiahui and Sheshan observatories, which were founded by the French Mission Catholique in 1872 and 1900 respectively. Both came under Chinese government jurisdiction in 1950. A 40cm double astrograph was built in 1900 on top of Sheshan Mountain, which was the largest telescope in East Asia at that time. It is one of a few telescopes in the world that observed Halley's Comet both in 1910 and 1986. From 1951 to 1981 SHAO provided the clock-time standard for all China. A new observatory was then established in ShanXi under the auspices of SHAO, which has provided this service since 1981. The first Chinese-made atomic clock was built in SHAO in 1972, and since then several hydrogen masers made in SHAO have been used at VLBI stations. In the 1980s, SHAO built a 25m radio telescope for use as station in the Very Long Baseline Interferometery (VLBI) network; a 1.56m optical telescope; and a 60cm satellite laser-ranging system. These three facilities are still in frequent use today. In 1999, SHAO moved to a new 19-storey building in the Xujiahui district of central Shanghai. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) is an institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The observatory's main research activities fall into four divisions: astro-geodynamics, astrophysics, very-long-baseline-interferometry (VLBI), and the technical laboratories. Its observing facilities include a 25m radio telescope used for VLBI, a 1.56m optical telescope, and a 60cm satellite laser-ranging system (SLR). There are also three technical laboratories, researching hydrogen atomic clocks, VLBI techniques, and optical astronomy. SHAO is responsible for the VLBI and SLR networks of the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC). It also hosts the central office of the Asia-Pacific Space Geodynamics Program (APSG), as well as a partner group of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA). |
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