Proposal:Observatory

Instrument designed for the observation of remote objects by the collection of electromagnetic radiation.

Telescope / Observatory
Proposal status:	Obsoleted (inactive)
Proposed by:	Bass
Tagging:	man_made=telescope / landuse=observatory
Applies to:	nodes / areas
Definition:	A building/place containing a telescope for observing objects
Statistics:
Rendered as:
Draft started:
Proposed on:	2008-03-23 Proposal-update:2008-04-24 Bass, 2008-09-18 Bass, 2009-09-08 Bass

An observatory with an optical telescope

Proposal

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Historically, observatories were as simple as containing an astronomical sextant (for measuring the distance between stars) or Stonehenge (which has some alignments on astronomical phenomena).

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope

A telescope is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects by the collection of electromagnetic radiation. The first known practically functioning telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. "Telescopes" can refer to a whole range of instruments operating in most regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

This tag should cover all size ranges: from small, school/non-profit 'neighbourhood' observatories (Volkssternwarte) to large scale multi telescope scientific installations.

Rationale

• Observatories are significant buildings often built on exposed places and therefore could help in navigation.
• There's one in my neighbourhood i want to tag.

Examples

• small one: Volksternwarte Aachen - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkssternwarte_Aachen
• big one: Arecibo Radio Telescope - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory
• large installation: Paranal Observatory (ESO) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranal_Observatory
• list of astronomical observatories (about 200 here?) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_astronomical_observatories

Definition

• An observatory site contains none/one/multiple telescopes .
  • Observatory sites could also be marked with a node only when the mapper is lazy or has no better information available.
  • Of course it's allowed to tag the Arecibo telescope as an area :D
• There are observatories with only one individual telescope (usually a smaller dome / private one) where a landuse=observatory tag is not appropriate.
• There are observatory sites without any telescope (e.g. meteorological station).

Tagging

Simple tagging

telescope

 man_made=telescope
 name=

radio telescope

 man_made=radio telescope
 name=

observatory

 landuse=observatory
 name=

observatory

• man_made=observatory

Conflicts with man_made=telescope! Should be avoided, see Problematic tagging variants

Makes only really sense if there is no scope at all at the observatory site and one is unable to map the area.

Advanced telescope tagging

telescope properties

 telescope:diameter=                      specify a number in meters, eg: 12.3

 operator=

 access=private|public|amateur            defaults to 'private'

 telescope:type=optical                   defaults to 'optical'
 telescope:type=radio
 telescope:type=gamma                     gamma-ray astronomy, e.g. MAGIC telescope
 telescope:type=radar                     radar astronomy
 telescope:type=infrared                  infrared astronomy, e.g. IRTF on Mauna Kea
 telescope:type=x-ray
 telescope:type=

Of course, if needed, even more exact tagging is always allowed:

 telescope:spectrum=                      wavelength, e.g. 9.9583745μm-12.0000000μm

 telescope:type=gravitational

 telescope:usage=seti
 telescope:usage=espionage
 telescope:usage=echelon
 telescope:usage=onyx
 telescope:usage=

Advanced observatory tagging

() observatory properties

 observatory:type=astronomical            this is mostly the case and therefore default
 observatory:type=meteorological
 observatory:type=volcanological
 observatory:type=geological
 observatory:type=gravitational
 observatory:type=neutrino
 observatory:type=espionage
 observatory:type=

 operator=

 access=private|public                    defaults to 'private'

Problematic/Unusual tagging variants

• man_made=observatory
  • Conflicts with man_made=telescope.
  • Used for small telescopes, one building (observatory), one scope.
  • Sometimes used, when a mapper quickly adds a POI. Problematic if more information gets added.
  • It is always better to add a landuse=observatory, even it is on the building containing man_made=telescope.
  • Totally reasonable for meteorological stations, where there is no scope.

• man_made=telescope
  • Yeah, Arecibo deserves it :D

• landuse=telescope
  • You Arecibo guys can tag the way you like!
  • Should not be used for installations like the One Hectare Telescope. This one reserved for Arecibo :D

• man_made=observatory
  • Simply wrong, use landuse=observatory

Rendered As

Icons (proposed)

• a radio dish:
• observatory dome icon:

Areas (proposed)

The area should not be blue, a gray like other landuses is better.

Existing sites in OSM

• Very Large Array currently entered as railway=rail
• Very Long Baseline Array
• Arecibo
• Paranal Observatory
• Parkes Observatory
• Apache Point Observatory
• National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak
• Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
• Lick Observatory
• Las Campanas Observatory
• Einstein Tower Wikipedia
• Nobeyama Radio Observatory Japan

Discussion

Discussion moved to the discussion page.

JOSM Presets

JOSM presets for observatories are available via the built-in function by downloading the preset file.

Voting

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