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The
Dominion
Observatory
was
an
astronomical
observatory
in
Ottawa,
Ontario
that
operated
from
1902
to
1970.
The
Observatory
was
also
an
institution
within
the
Canadian
Federal
Government.
The
observatory
grew
out
of
the
Department
of
the
Interior's
need
for
the
precise
coordinates
and
timekeeping
that
at
that
time
could
only
come
from
an
observatory.
For
several
years
they
had
used
a
small
observatory
on
the
Ottawa
River
for
this
purpose.
In
1902,
it
was
decided
that
Canada
needed
a
larger
national
observatory
similar
to
the
Royal
Greenwich
Observatory
in
Britain.
Chief
Dominion
Architect
David
Ewart
designed
the
Dominion
Observatory
in
1902.
The
new
building
was
then
erected
near
Dow's
Lake
on
the
Agriculture
Department's
Central
Experimental
Farm
land.
This
Romanesque
Revival
building
was
completed
in
1905.
Its
main
instrument
was
a
15-inch
refracting
telescope,
the
largest
refracting
telescope
ever
installed
in
Canada,
although
it
was
not
a
particularly
large
telescope
for
this
period.
While
the
building
and
institution
were
primarily
dedicated
to
astronomical
timekeeping
in
support
of
surveying,
a
number
of
other
activities
took
place
here.
The
Dominion
Observatory
was
Canada's
leading
institution
in
Geophysics
for
many
decades,
which
included
the
operation
of
Canada's
national
seismometer
network.
The
facility
did
important
work,
but
with
this
bridgehead
into
the
world
of
astronomy
and
the
growth
of
the
field
of
astrophysics,
Canadian
astronomers
quickly
demanded
a
facility
designed
for
the
new
scientific
age.
In
1917,
the
Dominion
Astrophysical
Observatory
was
opened
in
Victoria,
B.C.
and
it
supplanted
the
Dominion
Observatory
as
Canada's
foremost
astronomical
observatory.
For
many
years,
the
Dominion
Observatory
was
best
known
to
Canadians
as
the
source
of
Canada's
official
time
signal.
The
observatory
continued
in
operation
until
1970
at
which
time
Canada's
science
institutions
were
reorganized.
The
national
time-keeping
and
astronomical
activities
were
transferred
to
the
National
Research
Council
of
Canada,
while
the
geophysics,
surveying
and
mapping
were
transferred
to
the
Department
of
Energy
Mines
and
Resources.
The
Geophysics
work
was
later
merged
into
the
Geological
Survey
of
Canada,
now
part
of
Natural
Resources
Canada.
Astronomical
timekeeping
observations
at
the
Dominion
Observatory
had
ceased
many
years
prior
to
this,
when
crystal
oscillator
clocks
and,
later,
atomic
clocks
were
found
to
be
superior
to
astronomical
timekeeping.
The
building
became
home
to
NRCan
offices.
The
telescope
had
been
open
for
public
viewing
from
1905
until
1970.
In
1974,
the
telescope
was
moved
from
the
Dominion
Observatory
to
the
Helen
Sawyer
Hogg
Observatory
at
the
Canada
Science
and
Technology
Museum
where
it
remained
until
2016.
n
the
mid-1990s,
the
rumour
within
Natural
Resources
was
that
consideration
was
given
to
demolish
the
building
to
save
money
in
a
time
of
budgetary
cutbacks.
However,
these
plans
did
not
come
to
fruition.
As
of
2008,
the
building
is
the
home
to
the
Office
of
Energy
Efficiency,
a
part
of
the
Energy
Branch,
Natural
Resources
Canada.
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