Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory (Gaithersburg, Maryland)

 observatory, place with historical importance

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100 Desellum Avenue
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
(301) 258-6350
www.gaithersburgmd.gov/about-us/city-facilities/interna...

Opened: 1899
Area: 100,200 ft²
Coordinates: 39°8′12″N 77°11′57″W / 39.13667°N 77.19917°W
Added to NRHP: July 12, 1985

The Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory is significant for its association with the study of polar motion, and for its symbolic value in representing an important and long-lived program of international scientific cooperation. Established in 1899 by the International Geodetic Association, the International Polar Motion Service was a cooperative effort among scientists worldwide to study the Earth's wobble on its rotational axis. The Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory was one of six observatories around the world (in the United States, Russia, Japan, and Italy) commissioned under this program. Between 1900 and 1960 these observatories were the best source of information on polar motion available to scientists. Data supplied by the six latitude observatories have been used in hundreds of scientific papers and studies investigating the geophysics of the earth. The observatories have enabled geodesists to better understand the size and shape of the earth and astronomers to adjust their observations for the effects of polar motion. In more practical terms, the work done by the observatories contributed to studies attempting to determine earthquake mechanisms and the elasticity of the earth, and to predict climate variations. The space program has also benefited from this work; polar motion study is necessary to determine orbit patterns of spacecraft and satellites, and aids tracking techniques used in deep space navigation. The latitude observatories made a major contribution to science on an international scale. The research undertaken in these small, simple structures not only fueled all work done in earth motion for decades, but transcended the differences of man during times of war and international strain. Despite the location of stations in two Allied nations and two Axis nations during World War II, cooperation between the observatories continued and their important work did not cease. From its construction in 1899 until the obsolescence of man-operated telescopic observation forced its closing in 1982, the Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory played an integral role in this important scientific endeavor.
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