---
title: "Observatory"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observatory"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:50:38.955199+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

A volcano observatory is an institution that conducts the monitoring of a volcano as well as research in order to understand the potential impacts of active volcanism. Among the best known are the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the Vesuvius Observatory. Mobile volcano observatories exist with the USGS VDAP (Volcano Disaster Assistance Program), to be deployed on demand. Each volcano observatory has a geographic area of responsibility it is assigned to whereby the observatory is tasked with spreading activity forecasts, analyzing potential volcanic activity threats and cooperating with communities in preparation for volcanic eruption.

== See also ==

== References ==

== Further reading ==
Aubin, David; Charlotte Bigg, and H. Otto Sibum, eds. The Heavens on Earth: Observatories and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture (Duke University Press; 2010) 384 pages; Topics include astronomy as military science in Sweden, the Pulkovo Observatory in the Russia of Czar Nicholas I, and physics and the astronomical community in late 19th-century America.
Brunier, Serge, et al. Great Observatories of the World (2005).
Dick, Steven. Sky and Ocean Joined: The U.S. Naval Observatory 1830–2000 (2003).
Gressot Julien and Jeanneret Romain, « Determining the right time, or the establishment of a culture of astronomical precision at Neuchâtel Observatory in the mid-19th century », Journal for the History of Astronomy, 53(1), 2022, 27–48, https://doi.org/10.1177/00218286211068572
Leverington, David. Observatories and Telescopes of Modern Times – Ground-Based Optical and Radio Astronomy Facilities since 1945. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, ISBN 9780521899932.
McCray, W. Patrick. Giant Telescopes: Astronomical Ambition and the Promise of Technology (2004); focuses on the Gemini Observatory.
Sage, Leslie, and Gail Aschenbrenner. A Visitor's Guide to the Kitt Peak Observatories (2004).

== External links ==

Dearborn Observatory Records, Northwestern University Archives, Evanston, Illinois (archived 4 September 2015)
Coordinates and satellite images of astronomical observatories on Earth
Milkyweb Astronomical Observatory Guide world's largest database of astronomical observatories since 2000 – about 2000 entries
List of amateur and professional observatories in North America with custom weather forecasts
Map showing many of the Astronomical Observatories around the world (with drilldown links)
Mt. Wilson Observatory Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
Observatories with Clear Sky Clocks