The National Astronomy Observatory of China (NAOC, the acronym was officially claimed as standing for National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese: 国家天文台; pinyin: Guójiā Tiānwéntái) was founded on April 25, 2001 through the merging of four CAS observatories, three CAS observing stations and one CAS research centre. The Headquarters of the NAOC are situated in the northern suburbs of Beijing on the site of the former Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO), and take responsibility for all matters relating to the former BAO. The reformation of management strucuture imitated to National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) of USA and National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).
Famous quotes containing the words national, observatory and/or china:
“Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see new worlds at once.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In a country where misery and want were the foundation of the social structure, famine was periodic, death from starvation common, disease pervasive, thievery normal, and graft and corruption taken for granted, the elimination of these conditions in Communist China is so striking that negative aspects of the new rule fade in relative importance.”
—Barbara Tuchman (1912–1989)