This is a partiallist of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in operation. While other sciences, such asvolcanology andmeteorology, also use facilities called observatories for research and observations, this list is limited to observatories that are used to observe celestial objects.

Astronomical observatories are mainly divided into four categories: space-based, airborne, ground-based, and underground-based.

Many modern telescopes and observatories are located in space to observe astronomical objects inwavelengths of theelectromagnetic spectrum that cannot penetrate the Earth's atmosphere (such asultraviolet radiation,X-rays, andgamma rays) and are thus impossible to observe using ground-based telescopes.^[1] Being above the atmosphere, thesespace observatories can also avoid the effects ofatmospheric turbulence that plague ground based telescopes, although new generations ofadaptive optics telescopes have since then dramatically improved the situation on the ground. The space high vacuum environment also frees the detectors from the ancestraldiurnal cycle due to the atmospheric blue light background of the sky, thereby increasing significantly the observation time.

An intermediate variant is theairborne observatory, specialised in theinfrared wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, that conduct observations above the part of the atmosphere containingwater vapor that absorbs them, in thestratosphere.

Historically,astronomical observatories consisted generally in a building or group of buildings where observations ofastronomical objects such assunspots,planets,asteroids,comets,stars,nebulae, andgalaxies in thevisible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum were conducted. At first, for millennia, astronomical observations have been made with naked eyes. Then with the discovery ofoptics, with the help of different types ofrefractor telescopes and later withreflector telescopes. Their use allowed to dramatically increase both thecollecting power andlimit of resolution, thus thebrightness, level of detail and apparentangular size of distant celestial objects allowing them to be better studied and understood. Following the development of modernphysics, new ground-based facilities have been constructed to conduct research in the radio andmicrowave wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, withradio telescopes and dedicatedmicrowave telescopes.

Modernastrophysics has extended the field of study of celestial bodies to non-electromagnetic vectors, such asneutrinos,neutrons andcosmic rays orgravitational waves. Thus, new types of observatories have been developed.Interferometers are at the core of gravitational wave detectors. In order to limit the natural or artificialbackground noise, mostparticle detector based observatories are builtdeep underground.

• History of Astronomy: Observatories and other places
• Observatories with Clear Sky Clocks
• Map of observatories in the United Kingdom

• Astronomical observatories
• Lists of buildings and structures
• Astronomy-related lists

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas