天文台(observatory)
拥有观测天体的望远镜及其附属设备的机构。可以根据所要观测的电磁波谱来划分天文台。大多数天文台都是光学天文台，即它们是用来观测电磁波谱中人眼可见的波段及其附近波段的辐射。有些天文台则是专门设置来发现那些能发出无线电波的天体，而另一些设置在人造地球卫星上的所谓轨道天文台，则配备有各种特殊的望远镜和检测器，专门在地球大气层以外研究发射像γ射线和X射线这种高能辐射的天体发射源。据说英国的巨石阵是早期的光学天文台。第一个使用仪器来精测天体方位的天文台可能是喜帕恰斯於西元前150年左右建於罗得岛的天文台。1576年第谷在文岛建立天文台。第一架用来研究天体的望远镜是伽利略於1609年制造的。18世纪时，赫瑟尔在英格兰斯劳建造一座天文台，是由私人建造和管理的着名天文台。目前，世界上最大组的光学望眼镜在夏威夷的冒纳开亚山上和智利的（Cerro Tuldo），其他大型天文台包括阿雷西沃天文台、威尔逊山天文台、帕洛马天文台和格林威治天文台。
English version：
observatory
Structure containing telescopes and secondary instruments for observing celestial objects. Observatories can be classified by the part of the electromagnetic spectrum they can receive. Most are optical, observing in and near the region of the visible spectrum. Some are equipped to detect radio waves; others (orbiting astronomical observatories) are earth satellites that carry special telescopes and detectors to study celestial sources of high-energy radiation (e.g., gamma rays, ultraviolet radiation, X rays) from above the atmosphere. Stonehenge may have been an early optical observatory. Perhaps the first observatory that used instruments to accurately measure the positions of celestial objects was built c. 150 BC by Hipparchus. The first notable premodern European observatory was that at Uraniborg, built for Tycho Brahe in 1576. Observatory House, in Slough, England, built and operated by the Herschels, was one of the technical wonders of the 18th century. Today, the world's largest groupings of optical telescopes are atop Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, and Cerro Tuldo, in Chile. Other major observatories include Arecibo Observatory, Mount Wilson Observatory, Palomar Observatory, and Royal Greenwich Observatory.