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SHAO
was formally established in 1962 following the amalgamation of the
former Xujiahui (originally spelt Zi-Ka-Wei) and Sheshan (Zỏ-Sẻ)
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.
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. |
