observatory

American  

[uhb-zur-vuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / əbˈzɜr vəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

plural

observatories

1. a place or building equipped and used for making observations of astronomical, meteorological, or other natural phenomena, especially a place equipped with a powerful telescope for observing the planets and stars.

2. an institution that controls or carries on the work of such a place.

3. a place or structure that provides an extensive view; lookout.

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observatory British  

/ -trɪ, əbˈzɜːvətərɪ /

noun

1. an institution or building specially designed and equipped for observing meteorological and astronomical phenomena

2. any building or structure providing an extensive view of its surroundings

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Etymology

Origin of observatory

1670–80; < Latin observā ( re ) to observe + -tory ²

Example Sentences

As new observatories such as the Giant Magellan Telescope prepare to directly image Earth-like planets around nearby stars, distinguishing between real planets and temporary dust clouds will become increasingly important.

From Science Daily

To reach their conclusions, the team combined fresh X-ray observations from the eROSITA X-ray telescope with archival data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory.

From Science Daily

The research team used data from South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, one of the most powerful radio observatories in the world, made up of 64 interconnected dishes.

From Science Daily

By incorporating their relativistic model into modern gravitational waveform calculations, the researchers demonstrate that such dark matter structures would leave distinct, measurable signatures in the signals detected by future observatories.

From Science Daily

This success attracted major support from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and private donors, and placed the observatory at the forefront of exoplanet science.

From Science Daily