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The U.S. Naval Observatory's Georgetown Heights Headquarters, completed in 1893.
Richard Morris Hunt, Architect

Welcome to the United States Naval Observatory's Official Web Page

The U.S. Naval Observatory Seal

The U.S. Naval Observatory Seal, designed in 1867 by RADM Charles Henry Davis

The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) provides a wide range of astronomical data and products, and serves as the official source of time for the U.S. Department of Defense, and a standard of time for the entire U.S.

Founded in 1830 as the U.S. Navy Depot of Charts and Instruments, USNO is recognized as the world's foremost authority on spatial and temporal reference frames.

USNO is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operates a dark-sky observing station near Flagstaff, Arizona (NOFS). It also has a small detachment activity, the Alternate Master Clock facility (AMC), located at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

News!

From the Naval Observatory

Recent Press Releases and notices

Captain Kimberly Freitas Assumes Duty as 59th Superintendent, U.S. Naval Observatory (07/10/2024)

We have a vacancy for an Astronomer in our Celestial Reference Frame Department! (07/01/2024)

We are hiring Engineering Technicians for our Instrument Shop! (07/01/2024)

We are hiring Electronics Engineers! (07/01/2024)

We are hiring Research Physicists for our Clock Development Division! (07/01/2024)

We are hiring Electronics Technicians for our Washington, DC and Colorado Springs facilities! (7/01/2024)

We are looking for an Opto-Mechanical Telescope Engineer for our Flagstaff (AZ) Station! (07/01/2024)

Dr. Rachel Dudik named as new Scientific Director, USNO (01/05/2024)

USNO Celebrates 150th Anniversary of "First Light" of the "Great Equatorial" Telescope (11/13/2023)

USNO Hosts Delegation From International Astronomical Union (5/10/2023)

U.S. Naval Observatory Hosts Hall of Fame Ceremony for GPS Pioneer (04/19/2023)

In Memoriam: Thomas E. Corbin, Ph.D.,
1940 - 2023

USNO Astronomer Leads Effort to Precisely Locate Sagittarius A* in the International Celestial Reference Frame Using Absolute Astrometry (01/19/2023)

USNO Astronomer Makes Major Breakthrough in Unifying the Celestial Reference Frame (12/7/2022)

USNO Astronomer Leads Study that Questions Structure of the Universe (10/11/2022)

The "Shortest" Day? (8/8/2022)

USNO Astronomers Create New Catalog of the Fundamental Properties of Supermassive Black Holes that Comprise the ICRF (6/17/2022)

Captain Hartwell F. "Rip" Coke becomes 58th Superintendent, U.S. Naval Observatory (1/12/2022)

Need to know what time it is?
Visit time.gov

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