Harvard College Observatory

observatory
Organization astronomical_observatory Q637936
Harvard College Observatory
Harvard College Observatory · Public Domain · Wikimedia
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Summary

Harvard College Observatory is an astronomical observatory[1]. It draws 301 Wikipedia views per month (astronomical observatory category, ranking #36 of 345).[2]

Key Facts

  • Located in the administrative territorial entity: Cambridge[3]
  • Country: United States[4]
  • Operator: Harvard University[5]
  • Headquarters location: Cambridge[6]
  • Commons category: Harvard College Observatory[7]
  • Has part(s): Harvard Great Refractor[8]
  • Inception: 1839[9]
  • Parent organization or unit: Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics[10]
  • Official website: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/hco[11]
  • Director / manager: Harlow Shapley[12], William Cranch Bond[13], George Phillips Bond[14], Solon Irving Bailey[15], Donald Howard Menzel[16], Leo Goldberg[17], George B. Field[18]
  • Described by source: Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 6[19], Collier's New Encyclopedia, 1921[20]
  • Published in: Collier's New Encyclopedia, 1921[21]
  • Date of official opening: 1839[22]
  • Elevation above sea level: 24 m[23]
  • On focus list of Wikimedia project: WikiProject Smithsonian Names[24]
  • P14541: 2DGDy5[25]

Why It Matters

Harvard College Observatory has Wikipedia articles in 21 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[26] It is known by 20 alternative names across languages and contexts.[27]

It is credited with the discovery of 4760 Jia-xiang[28], an asteroid[29]; 10464 Jessie[30], an asteroid[31]; 3401 Vanphilos[32], an asteroid[33]; 4726 Federer[34], an asteroid[35]; 4776 Luyi[36], an asteroid[37]; and 2198 Ceplecha[38], an asteroid[39].

FAQs

What did Harvard College Observatory discover?

Harvard College Observatory is credited as discoverer of 4760 Jia-xiang[28], 10464 Jessie[30], 3401 Vanphilos[32], and 4726 Federer[34].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [4] ↑ . GRID. Retrieved . grid.ac. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  2. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [9] ↑ . ROR release v1.19. wikidata.org.
  8. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [30] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [32] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [34] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [36] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [29] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [31] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [33] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [35] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [37] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [39] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [2] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [26] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [27] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Harvard College Observatory. Retrieved October 13, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/harvard-college-observatory
MLA “Harvard College Observatory.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 13 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/harvard-college-observatory.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_harvard-college-observatory_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Harvard College Observatory}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/harvard-college-observatory}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-13}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Harvard College Observatory — https://4ort.xyz/entity/harvard-college-observatory (retrieved 2026-10-13)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/harvard-college-observatory · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 2h ago · BornOnTheCob · 2026-10-13 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    On focus list of wikimedia project → WikiProject Smithsonian Names
    Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'arz', 'be', 'bn', 'ca', 'commons', 'cs', 'de', 'el', 'en', 'eo', 'es', '
    Sitelink count → 34
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ On focus list of wikimedia project: WikiProject Smithsonian Names, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1791918931218"
  2. 6w ago · Susmuffin · 2026-09-01 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Harper's tag → harvard-college-observatory
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Harper's tag: harvard-college-observatory, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/289935553|harvard college observatory (#289935553)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-matc"
  3. 13w ago · Nyuhn · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14541 → 2DGDy5
    Instance of → astronomical observatory
    Director / manager → Edward Charles Pickering, Harlow Shapley, William Cranch Bond +5
    Website → —
    + 25 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/40849|batch #40849]]: ZGBK ID"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.