OBSERVATORY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does observatory mean? 

• OBSERVATORY (noun)
  The noun OBSERVATORY has 2 senses:

1. a building designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena

2. a structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings

  Familiarity information: OBSERVATORY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OBSERVATORY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A building designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("observatory" is a kind of...):

building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lookout; lookout station; observation tower; observatory

Hypernyms ("observatory" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "observatory"):

observation dome (lookout consisting of a dome-shaped observatory)

widow's walk (a lookout atop a coastal house)

 Context examples 

Data collected from the high-flying observatory found that this comet contains "ocean-like" water.

(Comet Provides New Clues to Origins of Earth's Oceans, NASA)

The unusual system was captured by several observatories, including three NASA space telescopes.

(Three Black Holes on Collision Course, NASA)

Many similar worlds have been discovered by NASA's Kepler space observatory, whose mission ended in 2018.

(Atmosphere of Midsize Planet Revealed by Hubble, Spitzer, NASA)

Now, by combining data from the ESO’s Very Large Telescope and other observatories, an international team of astronomers has found that the object is moving faster than predicted.

(ESO’s VLT Sees `Oumuamua Getting a Boost, ESO)

Ground-based observatories then quickly located a new optical and infrared source — the kilonova — in NGC 4993.

(NASA Missions Catch First Light from a Gravitational-Wave Event, NASA)

Because TOI 700 is bright, nearby, and shows no sign of stellar flares, the system is a prime candidate for precise mass measurements by current ground-based observatories.

(NASA Planet Hunter Finds Earth-Size Habitable-Zone World, NASA)

Citizen scientists scanning images from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, an orbiting infra-red observatory, recently stumbled upon a new class of curiosities that had gone largely unrecognized before: yellow balls.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

A coronal mass ejection, or CME, surged off the side of the sun on May 9, 2014, and NASA's newest solar observatory caught it in extraordinary detail.

(Observing a Gigantic Eruption of Solar Material, NASA)

Recently, a group of astronomers did just that by combining data from two space observatories to reveal something surprising: a dwarf planet named 2007 OR10 is significantly larger than previously thought.

(2007 OR10: Largest Unnamed World in the Solar System, NASA)

According to one research team using data spanning from infrared radiation to gamma rays from Swift and other observatories, this transformation best explains the Cow's behavior.

(Mysterious Blast Studied with NASA Telescopes, NASA)